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# preference

«preference» in Mova's school dictionary: **A liking for one thing more than another** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a preference, preferences; also uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A liking for one thing more than another. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preference/#m1)

2) The thing you like more or choose. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preference/#m2)

3) «Give preference to»: treat one person or group better or first. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preference/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In maths and statistics, surveys of preferences (favourite fruit, shown in bar charts or tally charts). In everyday life, choices of food, colour and activity. Phrases: «a preference for», «in order of preference», «personal preference», «give preference to».

### examples

- I have a preference for chocolate ice cream. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preference/#x1)
- List the films in order of preference. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preference/#x2)
- The survey showed pupils' preferences for sports. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preference/#x3)
- It's a matter of personal preference. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preference/#x4)
- Older people are given preference for seats on the bus. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preference/#x5)
- Do you have a preference, tea or juice? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preference/#x6)
- Aphrodite greatly preferred Ares to her husband, and this preference naturally gave rise to much jealousy on the part of Hephaestus, and caused them great unhappiness. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preference/#x7)

### note

Verb «prefer» (prefer X TO Y, not «than»). Adjective «preferable». Stress: PREF-er-ence. In maths: preference surveys give counts — the most popular choice is the mode.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «preference» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preference/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.