prefer
part of speech
verb (prefer, prefers, preferred, preferring)
meaning for a pupil
1) To prefer means to like one thing more than another, or to choose it if you can. tree →
2) «I would prefer…» is a polite way to say what you want. tree →
sense in the lessons
In maths and data lessons, surveys ask which option people prefer, and the results are shown in tally charts and bar charts. In manners: «Would you prefer juice or milk?» and «I'd prefer not to» are polite ways to ask and say no. In science, animals prefer certain habitats: woodlice prefer damp, dark places. Phrases: «prefer A to B», «prefer to do», «I'd prefer», «preferred».
examples
- I prefer apples to oranges. tree →
- Would you prefer tea or juice? tree →
- My cat prefers sleeping in the sun. tree →
- I'd prefer to stay inside today. tree →
- Woodlice prefer dark, damp places. tree →
- Most of the class preferred the beach to the zoo. tree →
- She prefers reading to watching TV. tree →
- I'd prefer not to talk about it. tree →
note
Double the r with endings: «preferred, preferring» (stress is on «-FER»). Say «prefer A to B», not «prefer A than B». Noun: «preference»; adjective: «preferable» (stress on PREF). «Prefer» already means «like more», so «more prefer» is wrong.
In the corpora
- Dubbing means recording new voices in another language; some countries prefer subtitles, the written words at the bottom of the screen.
- Goats prefer leaves, twigs and shrubs to grass, and in Morocco some goats climb argan trees to eat the fruit.
- Mice prefer grains, seeds and sweet foods to cheese, so peanut butter works better in humane traps.
- Mice will eat cheese, but they prefer grains, seeds and sweet foods, so people baiting traps usually use peanut butter.
- Most people, when they grow up, prefer the truth told gently.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «prefer» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.