Ella VerbsHow to conjugate Deber in Spanish
To owe, to must, to should
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Indicative tenses of Deber
- Deber in the Indicative Present
- Deber in the Indicative Preterite
- Deber in the Indicative Imperfect
- Deber in the Indicative Future
- Deber in the Indicative Conditional
- Deber in the Indicative Present Perfect
- Deber in the Indicative Past Perfect
- Deber in the Indicative Future Perfect
- Deber in the Indicative Conditional Perfect
- Subjunctive tenses of Deber
- Deber in the Subjunctive Present
- Deber in the Subjunctive Imperfect
- Deber in the Subjunctive Future
- Deber in the Subjunctive Present Perfect
- Deber in the Subjunctive Past Perfect
- Deber in the Subjunctive Future Perfect
- Imperative tenses of Deber
- Deber in the Imperative Affirmative
- Deber in the Imperative Negative
- Example sentences and usage
Introduction
Deber is the Spanish verb meaning "to owe, to must or to should". It can be used to describe owing money to someone, or to express obligation. For example: I should go to the store, I must do my homework before dinner, I have to make my bed every morning, and I ought to help them clean. It is also commonly used to make a suggestion, for example: "No deberíamos fumar" (We shouldn't smoke).
Similar verbs to deber include: tener que (to have to).
| Spanish | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | deber | to owe, to must, to should |
| Past participle | debido | owed |
| Gerund | debiendo | owing |
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Indicative Tenses of Deber
Deber in the Indicative Present
The Indicative Present of deber is used to talk about situations, events or thoughts that are happening now or in the near future. It is also used to talk about facts and truths. For example, "debo dinero", meaning "I owe money".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | debo | I owe |
| Tú | debes | you owe |
| Ella / Él / Usted | debe | s/he owe, you (formal) owe |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | debemos | we owe |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | debéis | you (plural) owe |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | deben | they owe, you (plural formal) owe |
Deber in the Indicative Preterite
The Indicative Preterite of deber is used to talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time. For example, "debí dinero", meaning "I owed money".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | debí | I owed |
| Tú | debiste | you owed |
| Ella / Él / Usted | debió | s/he owed, you (formal) owed |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | debimos | we owed |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | debisteis | you (plural) owed |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | debieron | they owed, you (plural formal) owed |
Deber in the Indicative Imperfect
The Indicative Imperfect of deber is used to describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do. For example, "debía dinero", meaning "I used to owe money".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | debía | I used to owe |
| Tú | debías | you used to owe |
| Ella / Él / Usted | debía | s/he used to owe, you (formal) used to owe |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | debíamos | we used to owe |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | debíais | you (plural) used to owe |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | debían | they used to owe, you (plural formal) used to owe |
Deber in the Indicative Future
The Indicative Future of deber is used to talk about something that will happen in the future. For example, "deberé dinero", meaning "I will owe money".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | deberé | I will owe |
| Tú | deberás | you will owe |
| Ella / Él / Usted | deberá | s/he will owe, you (formal) will owe |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | deberemos | we will owe |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | deberéis | you (plural) will owe |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | deberán | they will owe, you (plural formal) will owe |
Deber in the Indicative Conditional
The Indicative Conditional of deber is used to talk about something that may happen in the future, hypothesis and probabilities. For example, "debería dinero", meaning "I would owe money".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | debería | I would owe |
| Tú | deberías | you would owe |
| Ella / Él / Usted | debería | s/he would owe, you (formal) would owe |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | deberíamos | we would owe |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | deberíais | you (plural) would owe |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | deberían | they would owe, you (plural formal) would owe |
Deber in the Indicative Present Perfect
The Indicative Present Perfect of deber is used to describe actions that started recently (in the past) and are still happening now or things that have been done recently. For example, "he debido dinero", meaning "I have owed money".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | he debido | I have owed |
| Tú | has debido | you have owed |
| Ella / Él / Usted | ha debido | s/he has owed, you (formal) have owed |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hemos debido | we have owed |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habéis debido | you (plural) have owed |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | han debido | they have owed, you (plural formal) have owed |
Deber in the Indicative Past Perfect
The Indicative Past Perfect of deber is used to talk about actions that happened before another action in the past. For example, "había debido dinero", meaning "I had owed money".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | había debido | I had owed |
| Tú | habías debido | you had owed |
| Ella / Él / Usted | había debido | s/he had owed, you (formal) had owed |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habíamos debido | we had owed |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habíais debido | you (plural) had owed |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habían debido | they had owed, you (plural formal) had owed |
Deber in the Indicative Future Perfect
The Indicative Future Perfect of deber is used to talk about something that will have happened in the future after something else has already happened. For example, "habré debido dinero", meaning "I will have owed money".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | habré debido | I will have owed |
| Tú | habrás debido | you will have owed |
| Ella / Él / Usted | habrá debido | s/he will have owed, you (formal) will have owed |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habremos debido | we will have owed |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habréis debido | you (plural) will have owed |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrán debido | they will have owed, you (plural formal) will have owed |
Deber in the Indicative Conditional Perfect
The Indicative Conditional Perfect of deber is used to talk about something that would have happened in the future but didn’t due to another action. For example, "habría debido dinero", meaning "I would have owed money".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | habría debido | I would have owed |
| Tú | habrías debido | you would have owed |
| Ella / Él / Usted | habría debido | s/he would have owed, you (formal) would have owed |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habríamos debido | we would have owed |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habríais debido | you (plural) would have owed |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrían debido | they would have owed, you (plural formal) would have owed |
Want a better way to learn conjugations?
Ella Verbs guides you through 30 levels of bite-sized lessons and verb drills, helping you to master the 16 main Spanish tenses from our verb library of 1,350+ verbs.
Subjunctive Tenses of Deber
Deber in the Subjunctive Present
The Subjunctive Present is used to talk about situations of uncertainty, or emotions such as wishes, desires and hopes. It differs from the indicative mood due to the uncertainty of the events which are being spoken about. For example, "deba", meaning "I owe".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | deba | I owe |
| Tú | debas | you owe |
| Ella / Él / Usted | deba | s/he owe, you (formal) owe |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | debamos | we owe |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | debáis | you (plural) owe |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | deban | they owe, you (plural formal) owe |
Deber in the Subjunctive Imperfect
The Subjunctive Imperfect is used to speak about unlikely or uncertain events in the past or to cast an opinion (emotional) about something that happened in the past. For example, "debiera", meaning "I owed".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | debiera | I owed |
| Tú | debieras | you owed |
| Ella / Él / Usted | debiera | s/he owed, you (formal) owed |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | debiéramos | we owed |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | debierais | you (plural) owed |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | debieran | they owed, you (plural formal) owed |
Deber in the Subjunctive Future
The Subjunctive Future is used For example, "debiere", meaning "I will owe".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | debiere | I will owe |
| Tú | debieres | you will owe |
| Ella / Él / Usted | debiere | s/he will owe, you (formal) will owe |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | debiéremos | we will owe |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | debiereis | you (plural) will owe |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | debieren | they will owe, you (plural formal) will owe |
Deber in the Subjunctive Present Perfect
The Subjunctive Present Perfect is used to describe past actions or events that are still connected to the present day and to speak about an action that will have happened by a certain time in the future. For example, "haya debido", meaning "I have owed".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | haya debido | I have owed |
| Tú | hayas debido | you have owed |
| Ella / Él / Usted | haya debido | s/he has owed, you (formal) have owed |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hayamos debido | we have owed |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hayáis debido | you (plural) have owed |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hayan debido | they have owed, you (plural formal) have owed |
Deber in the Subjunctive Past Perfect
The Subjunctive Past Perfect is used to speak about hypothetical situations, and actions/events that occurred before other actions/events in the past. For example, "hubiera debido", meaning "I had owed".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera debido | I had owed |
| Tú | hubieras debido | you had owed |
| Ella / Él / Usted | hubiera debido | s/he had owed, you (formal) had owed |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéramos debido | we had owed |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hubierais debido | you (plural) had owed |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieran debido | they had owed, you (plural formal) had owed |
Deber in the Subjunctive Future Perfect
The Subjunctive Future Perfect is used For example, "hubiere debido", meaning "I will have owed".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere debido | I will have owed |
| Tú | hubieres debido | you will have owed |
| Ella / Él / Usted | hubiere debido | s/he will have owed, you (formal) will have owed |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéremos debido | we will have owed |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hubiereis debido | you (plural) will have owed |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieren debido | they will have owed, you (plural formal) will have owed |
Imperative Tenses of Deber
Deber in the Imperative Affirmative
The Imperative Affirmative is used to give orders and commands, to tell someone to do something. For example, "deba", meaning "(to you formal) owe!".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | debe | (to you) owe! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | deba | (to you formal) owe! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | debamos | (to we) owe! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | debed | (to you plural) owe! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | deban | (to you plural formal) owe! |
Deber in the Imperative Negative
The Imperative Negative is used to give orders and commands, telling someone not to do something. For example, "no deba", meaning "(to you formal) don't owe!".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | no debas | (to you) don't owe! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | no deba | (to you formal) don't owe! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | no debamos | (to we) don't owe! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | no debáis | (to you plural) don't owe! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | no deban | (to you plural formal) don't owe! |
Example sentences and usage
- No debí desconectarme del sitio. I shouldn't have logged off.
- Debemos aprender a vivir juntos como hermanos, o pereceremos juntos como tontos. We must learn to live together as brothers, or we will perish together as fools.
- Debo admitir que ronco... I must admit that I snore.
- Nosotros debemos aprender a encarar virtuosamente la adversidad. We must learn to meet adversity gracefully.
- Debiste de haber rechazado una propuesta tan injusta. You should have refused such an unfair proposal.
- La gente debería entender que el mundo está cambiando. People should understand that the world is changing.
- ¡Debes ayudarla, y pronto! You must help her, and soon!
- Debes irte de una vez a casa. You must go home at once.
Want to explore other verb conjugations?
Why not check out recibir – to receive or see the complete list of verbs here.
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