Lección 4: Preferencias y deseos
Preferir and querer
To express preferences or desires, use the verbs preferir (to prefer) and querer (to want). To express a preference or desire to do something, these verbs are followed by an infinitive (a verb ending in -ar, -er or -ir).
Preferir and querer.
| Español |
English |
| Camila quiere visitar a su tía. |
Camila wants to visit her aunt. |
| ¿Prefieres llamar a David? |
Do you prefer (would you rather) call David? |
Los verbs: preferir.
| Español |
English |
| yo prefiero |
nosotros/as preferimos |
| tú prefieres |
vosotros/as preferís |
| usted prefiere |
ustedes prefieren |
| él/ella prefiere |
ellos/ellas prefieren |
Los verbs: querer.
| Español |
English |
| yo quiero |
nosotros/as queremos |
| tú quieres |
vosotros/as queréis |
| usted quiere |
ustedes quieren |
| él/ella quiere |
ellos/ellas quieren |
Preferir and querer can also be used to express preferences or desires for the future.
Preferir and querer.
| Español |
English |
| Quiero ir a las montañas mañana. |
I want to go to the mountains tomorrow. |
| Preferimos ir el sábado. |
We prefer to go on Saturday. |
Tener ganas
Another way to express desires to do something is to use the verbal expression tener ganas de (to feel like). Like preferir and querer, it is also followed by an infinitive.
Tener ganas.
| Español |
English |
| ¿Tienes ganas de ir a bailar? |
Do you feel like going to dance? |
| No tengo ganas de salir esta noche. |
I don’t feel like going out tonight |
