How to conjugate Deber in Spanish

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).

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".

In Spanish, the Indicative Present is known as "El Presente".

Pronoun	Spanish	English
Yo	debo	I owe
Tú	debes	you owe
Ella / Él / Usted	debe	s/he owes, you (formal) owe
Nosotras / Nosotros	debemos	we owe
Vosotras / Vosotros	debéis	you (plural) owe
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes	deben	they owe

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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".

In Spanish, the Indicative Preterite is known as "El Pretérito Indefinido".

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

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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".

In Spanish, the Indicative Imperfect is known as "El Pretérito Imperfecto".

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

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Deber in the Indicative Present Continuous

The Indicative Present Continuous of deber is used to talk about something that is happening continuously or right now. For example, "estoy debiendo dinero", meaning "I am owing money".

In Spanish, the Indicative Present Continuous is known as "El Presente Progresivo".

Pronoun	Spanish	English
Yo	estoy debiendo	I am owing
Tú	estás debiendo	you are owing
Ella / Él / Usted	está debiendo	s/he is owing, you (formal) are owing
Nosotras / Nosotros	estamos debiendo	we are owing
Vosotras / Vosotros	estáis debiendo	you (plural) are owing
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes	están debiendo	they are owing

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Deber in the Indicative Informal Future

The Indicative Informal Future of deber is used to talk about something that will happen in the future, especially in the near future. For example, "voy a deber dinero", meaning "I am going to owe money".

In Spanish, the Indicative Informal Future is known as "El Futuro Próximo".

Pronoun	Spanish	English
Yo	voy a deber	I am going to owe
Tú	vas a deber	you are going to owe
Ella / Él / Usted	va a deber	s/he is going to owe, you (formal) are going to owe
Nosotras / Nosotros	vamos a deber	we are going to owe
Vosotras / Vosotros	vais a deber	you (plural) are going to owe
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes	van a deber	they are going to owe

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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".

In Spanish, the Indicative Future is known as "El Futuro Simple".

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

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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".

In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional is known as "El Condicional Simple".

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

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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".

In Spanish, the Indicative Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto".

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

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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".

In Spanish, the Indicative Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto".

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

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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".

In Spanish, the Indicative Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto".

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

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Deber in the Indicative Conditional Perfect

The Indicative Conditional Perfect of deber is used to talk about something that would have happened in the past but didn’t due to another action. For example, "habría debido dinero", meaning "I would have owed money".

In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional Perfect is known as "El Condicional Perfecto".

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

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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".

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present is known as "El Presente de Subjuntivo".

Pronoun	Spanish	English
Yo	deba	I owe
Tú	debas	you owe
Ella / Él / Usted	deba	s/he owes, you (formal) owe
Nosotras / Nosotros	debamos	we owe
Vosotras / Vosotros	debáis	you (plural) owe
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes	deban	they owe

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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".

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Imperfect is known as "El Imperfecto Subjuntivo".

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

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Deber in the Subjunctive Future

The Subjunctive Future is used to speak about hypothetical situations, and actions/events that may happen in the future. For example, "debiere", meaning "I will owe".

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future is known as "El Futuro de Subjuntivo".

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

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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".

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto de Subjuntivo".

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

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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".

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo".

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

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Deber in the Subjunctive Future Perfect

The Subjunctive Future Perfect is used to speak about something that will have happened if a hypothetical situations occurs in the future. For example, "hubiere debido", meaning "I will have owed".

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto de Subjuntivo".

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

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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!".

In Spanish, the Imperative Affirmative is known as "El Imperativo Afirmativo".

Pronoun	Spanish	English
Yo	-	-
Tú	debe	(to you) owe!
Ella / Él / Usted	deba	(to you formal) owe!
Nosotras / Nosotros	debamos	let's owe!
Vosotras / Vosotros	debed	(to you plural) owe!
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes	deban	(to you plural formal) owe!

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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!".

In Spanish, the Imperative Negative is known as "El Imperativo Negativo".

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	let's not owe!
Vosotras / Vosotros	no debáis	(to you plural) don't owe!
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes	no deban	(to you plural formal) don't owe!

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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.

Downloadable cheat sheets

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