'Préférer': French Verb Conjugations

Préférer is a French first-group verb meaning "to prefer." It can also translate into English as "opt for," or "select," depending on the context. Préférer follows the regular conjugation pattern of the first group. Préférer is conjugated the same way as other verbs ending in –érer, and it is often conjugated with the auxiliary, or helping, verb avoir. It can be a transitive verb, which means it takes a direct object, or an intransitive verb, which means it does not. Préférer can be conjugated in the reflexive form se préférer.

Stem-Changing Verbs

Préférer is also a stem-changing verb. French stem-changing verbs are conjugated with the same endings as regular –er verbs but have two different radicals or stems. Stem-changing verbs are sometimes also called boot verbs or shoe verbs because if you circle the forms that have stem changes in the conjugation table below, the resulting shape looks like a boot or shoe.

With a regular –er verb, you would have a constant stem of the infinitive without the –er. But with préférer, the stem can be either préfér- or préfèr-. You switch to the accent grave (préfèr-) in the present, subjunctive and imperative tenses, except when using the subject pronouns nous and vous.

The stem change is optional in the future and conditional tenses—both are acceptable. The tables below show you the simple conjugations of préférer.

Using "Avoir"

The verb "avoir" (to have) is, itself, one of the main irregular verbs in French. Like the other irregular verbs, the conjugation of avoir doesn't follow the same patterns as other verbs, so getting a handle the proper use of this verb requires a fair amount of memorization. There are two kinds of conjugations in French: simple and compound.

Verb conjugation pattern
Préférer is a stem-changing verb

Using "Préférer" in a Sentence

Collins online dictionary gives these examples of how to use préférer in a sentence. The sentence provided by Collins is listed in French on the left, in italics. The English translations have been added in regular type on the right to facilitate learning and studying.

• Il est préférable de ne pas choisir de trop grosses huîtres, préférer les numéros 3 ou 4 qui équivalent à des moyennes. > It is better not to choose (prefer) oysters that are too large. The preference is for Nos. 3 or 4 which are about average.
• Il faut donc préférer la transparence à l'angélisme et ne pas masquer les intérêts en jeu. > We must therefore prefer transparency to obfuscation, and not hide the interests at stake.
• Pour cette dernière partie, le médecin peut préférer la prescription en génériques, prévoit le document. > For this last part, the doctor may prefer to prescribe generics, the document says.