Germans indicate that they prefer (doing) one thing over another by using the words “bevorzugen”, “vorziehen” or simply a construction with “lieber” (“rather”):

– “Ich bevorzuge Rotwein.” – “I prefer red wine.”
– “Ich ziehe Rotwein vor.” – “I prefer red wine.”
– “Ich trinke lieber Rotwein.” – “I’d rather drink red wine.”

Note that the preferred item will be in accusative and the item it is compared to is in dative (usually with the preposition “gegenüber”):

– “Ich bevorzuge diesen Mann gegenüber diesem Mann.” – “I prefer this man to this man.”
– “Ich bevorzuge mein Getränk gegenüber deinem Getränk.” – “I prefer my drink to your drink.”
– “Ich bevorzuge sein Bier gegenüber seinem Affen.” – “I prefer his beer to his monkey.”

With the “lieber” construction, the preposition is “als”. Both the preferred object as well as the alternative are in accusative:

– “Ich sehe lieber deinen Film als seinen Film.” – “I prefer watching your movie to his movie.”
– “Er geht lieber in den guten Club als den schlechten Club.” – “He’d rather go to the good club than the bad club.”