Why is it prefiere not prefieres?

Question

It says ' Do you prefer to wait sitting or standing' and I had to fill in the gap for prefer/preferir.

' Usted prefiere esperar de pie o sentado?'

I don't understand how prefiere is the answer and not prefieres

Accepted Answer

Hola TamaraThis is because in the sentence you have the subject "Usted" meaning "you" in a formal way, and for this the conjugation you need is the one without the -s:  "prefiere". The conjugation for the usted form coincides with the 3rd person singular "él / ella" (he/she). If the text was saying "¿Tú ...... esperar de pie o sentado?" then you need "¿Tú prefieres esperar....?I hope this clarified it.Saludos

Answer

Thank you so much! This was very helpful. Thanks