To choose between two things, Italian uses preferire — to prefer. It's an -ire verb with a twist: in four of the six forms, -isc- slips in between the stem and the ending.

Pronoun	Preferire
io	preferisco
tu	preferisci
lui / lei	preferisce
noi	preferiamo
voi	preferite
loro	preferiscono

Noi and voi stay plain. Mind the sound: -isco and -iscono are a hard sk, -isci and -isce a soft sh.

• With a noun: Preferisco il mare. — I prefer the sea.
• With an infinitive: Preferisco restare a casa. — I'd rather stay at home.
• The thing you like less comes after a, merged with the article: Preferisco il mare alla montagna. — I prefer the sea to the mountains. (a + il = al, a + la = alla, a + lo = allo, a + l' = all')