56 Deber vs Deber de Flashcards
In Spanish, when we want to express an obligation or a responsibility, we use the verb deber, properly conjugated of course,
The everyday verb deber is most often used to express that someone has a debt or is obligated to do something.
followed by the infinitive of the verb denoting the action that we must carry out.
I must do my homework.
Debo hacer mi tarea.
In the preterite, deber is used to indicate that something SHOULD have been done.
“You should have warned me.”
Or
“You should have told me in advance.”
In the preterite, deber is used to indicate that something should have been done.Debiste haberme avisado.
Debiste……………. haber….me …….. avisado.
You should have me warned
“Deber + infinitive” tends to imply a sense of internal obligation,
whereas “tener que + infinitive,” which is extremely common and very close in meaning, tends to convey a sense of external obligation.
Emilio should pick up his dirty clothes. (For his own good and that of the household.)
Emilio debe levantar su ropa sucia.
Emilio must/has to pick up his dirty clothes. (Or his mother will ground him.)
Emilio tiene que levantar su ropa sucia.
So any time you want to express a sense of responsibility or obligation, especially one that stems of an internal sense of duty, just conjugate the verb deber and then add the infinitive of the action verb.
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I know it won’t be easy but I must confess the truth.
Sé que no será fácil pero debo confesarle la verdad.
When one wants to give the listener or reader the idea of probability, one also uses the verb deber, but before the infinitive,
one should also include the preposition de.
The phrase deber de can be used to indicate that something is highly probable.
You must be [probably are] confused.
Confundida debes de estar.
Aleks Syntek probably understood the difference. (That is the most likely scenario.)
Aleks Syntek debió de entender la diferencia.
(Use of Preterite for SHOULD)
she should have stayed with him
debió quedarse con él
Expressing Obligation
When used in this way, deber is frequently similar in meaning to the English
“must,” “should,” or “ought”:
You ought to study your lessons.
Debes estudiar tus lecciones.
Which car should I buy?
¿Qué carro debo comprar?
Someone will have to talk about all this.
Alguien deberá hablar de todo esto.
He shouldn’t go to sleep after eating.
No debe dormirse después de comer.
The tone of deber to express obligation can be softened by using the conditional form instead of the present tense, although the difference isn’t always translatable.
When telling someone what he or she should be doing, using the conditional can come across as more polite:
You shouldn’t start a blog if you’re going to talk about personal subjects.
No deberías abrir un blog si vas a hablar de temas personales.
(There are 25 books we should read before we reach our 30s.)
Hay 25 libros que deberíamos leer antes de cumplir los 30.
Expressing a Debt
When used with a noun direct object, deber can usually be translated as “owe.”
No me debes nada.
You don’t owe me anything.
The government owes my mother more than $3 million.
El gobierno le debe más de $3 millones a mi madre.
I am always going to owe you for having lifted me up when I was so low.
Siempre te voy a deber el haberme levantado cuando tan abajo estaba.
Expressing Strong Probability
The phrase “debes de” is used to refer to a strong likelihood. In such cases,
it is often the equivalent of the English “must” when “must” isn’t used to express obligation:
