Deber means must, should, to owe. Learn five tenses, then practise each person.
Present: debo, debes, debe, debemos, debéis, deben.
Deber in the present tense
Use the present for current states, habits and actions. The subject can be omitted when the verb makes it clear.
Vosotros is informal plural you in Spain. Ustedes uses the ellos/ellas form and is the usual plural you in Latin America.
Deber plus an infinitive is must or should: debo estudiar, I must study.
Deber in the preterite tense
Use the preterite for a completed event in the past, viewed as a whole.
Deber in the imperfect tense
Use the imperfect for past habits, ongoing situations and background descriptions, without marking their endpoint.
Deber in the future tense
Use the simple future for what will happen. Spanish also uses this tense for a guess about the present.
Deber in the conditional tense
Use the conditional for what would happen, a polite request or a hypothetical situation.
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All six persons. Blue, bold forms differ from regular endings, including spelling changes that preserve pronunciation.
| Person | Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Future | Conditional |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | debo | debí | debía | deberé | debería |
| tú | debes | debiste | debías | deberás | deberías |
| él / ella / usted | debe | debió | debía | deberá | debería |
| nosotros / nosotras | debemos | debimos | debíamos | deberemos | deberíamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | debéis | debisteis | debíais | deberéis | deberíais |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | deben | debieron | debían | deberán | deberían |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | debo | I must |
| tú | debes | you must |
| él / ella / usted | debe | he/she must |
| nosotros / nosotras | debemos | we must |
| vosotros / vosotras | debéis | you all (vosotros) must |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | deben | they must |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | debí | I had to |
| tú | debiste | you had to |
| él / ella / usted | debió | he/she had to |
| nosotros / nosotras | debimos | we had to |
| vosotros / vosotras | debisteis | you all (vosotros) had to |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | debieron | they had to |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | debía | I was supposed to |
| tú | debías | you were supposed to |
| él / ella / usted | debía | he/she was supposed to |
| nosotros / nosotras | debíamos | we were supposed to |
| vosotros / vosotras | debíais | you all (vosotros) were supposed to |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | debían | they were supposed to |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | deberé | I will have to |
| tú | deberás | you will have to |
| él / ella / usted | deberá | he/she will have to |
| nosotros / nosotras | deberemos | we will have to |
| vosotros / vosotras | deberéis | you all (vosotros) will have to |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | deberán | they will have to |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | debería | I should |
| tú | deberías | you should |
| él / ella / usted | debería | he/she should |
| nosotros / nosotras | deberíamos | we should |
| vosotros / vosotras | deberíais | you all (vosotros) should |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | deberían | they should |
Deber follows the regular er pattern in these five tenses.
The present forms are debo, debes, debe, debemos, debéis, deben, in the order yo, tú, él/ella/usted, nosotros, vosotros and ellos/ellas/ustedes.
debí, debiste, debió, debimos, debisteis, debieron. For example, debí means “I had to”.
Deber follows the regular er pattern in these five tenses.
The preterite (debí) presents a completed event; the imperfect (debía) gives a past habit or background situation. The English glosses are “I had to” and “I was supposed to”, but context determines the best translation.
The yo forms are deberé (“I will have to”) and debería (“I should”). The full charts above include every person.
Deber means must, should, to owe. Deber plus an infinitive is must or should: debo estudiar, I must study.
Updated · English prompts, Spanish answers.