Past tense of "deber" Spanish speakers seem to habitually use the imperfect tense for "deber" where English speakers would use the past tense, e.g.,
"Paul owed her his life" => "Pablo le debía la vida" instead of "Pablo le debió la vida"
"You guys must've figured something out" => "Debíais haber descubierto algo" instead of "Debisteis haber haber descubierto algo"
... and sometimes where English speakers would use the present tense, e.g., "But the Lord said he must go to Ninevah" => "Pero el Señor insistió en que debía ir a Nínive" instead of "Pero el Señor insistió en que debe ir a Nínive."
They also use the imperfect in situations that seem to call for a past-tense conditional ("should have"):
Si querías baile, debías haber recurrido a mí => If you wanted dancing, you should have come to me
I would have expected "Si querías baile, deberías haber recurrido a mí" (should have). Sometimes I do see "deberías haber" for "should have", and I can't see any pattern to why one is chosen instead of the other.
In some cases, the imperfect is used where the present-tense conditional seems clearly called for, e.g., "debias esperar hasta que llamara" for "you should wait until he calls." There's nothing past-tense-ish about that sentence.
"deberían" ('they should") in particular is used interchangeably with "debían" (literally "in the past they must"), and neither is used for past-tense "they should have".
Can someone explain how Spanish speakers conceptualize these tenses of "deber"? Does the choice of tense work the same way for "deber" as "owe" and "deber" as "must", or are they treated differently?
Hola a todos,
I think I’m right in saying that, “Uno debe cuidar bien a sus amigos...” means “One/you must/look after/care for your friends...”. Is ‘uno debe’ just an alternative to ‘se debe’?
I also wanted to ask about the use of ‘lo suyo’ in this passage. In the context here does it mean ‘it’s their thing/it’s up to them/ it’s their job to make me laugh...’?
I enjoyed this exercise, gracias! :)
Hola Inma,
I' m a bit confused with the articles. Why not el Salvador Dalí era un pintor? In a lesson of yours I read:
El Quijote fue escrito por Miguel de Cervantes.
El señor López era muy valorado por todos los vecinos.
Te agradezco mucho tus respuestas muy útiles!
Ελισάβετ
Hola a todos,
A huge thank you to Inma and all the other super teachers we have at our beck and call here in Kwiziq land. Inma et.al, you have the patience of saints!
My request: I have mentioned this before but feel that I need to bring it up again...
Please, when we are asking for assistance from the teachers can we all be mindful of 'manners'. A simple 'Hi', a 'please could you help me with...' and then just a simple 'thank you' in advance or when help has been given.
Gracias y saludos :)
Yo creo que la palabra ella es una combinación de las palabras el y la. Similarmente, la palabra ellos es una combinación de las palabras el y los y también la palabra nosotros es una combinación de las palabras nos y otros y también la palabra vosotros es una combinación de las palabras vos y otros. Me parece que son similares con el tipo de palabras en inglés llamada contracciones. Yo espero que yo tengo razón pero no estoy seguro de este. Por favor me explique.
1. Ese dibujo parece bueno. Enséñamelo, por favor.
2. Ese dibujo parece bueno. Me lo enseñas, por favor.
What is the difference between these two options? Why is the second one incorrect? To me they both sound acceptable. Thanks
"Fastidiar" is another false friend. In English, to be "fastidious" is to be very attentive to detail, accuracy or cleanliness.
I chose the correct answer and the quiz changed my after...
Spanish speakers seem to habitually use the imperfect tense for "deber" where English speakers would use the past tense, e.g.,
"Paul owed her his life" => "Pablo le debía la vida" instead of "Pablo le debió la vida"
"You guys must've figured something out" => "Debíais haber descubierto algo" instead of "Debisteis haber haber descubierto algo"
... and sometimes where English speakers would use the present tense, e.g., "But the Lord said he must go to Ninevah" => "Pero el Señor insistió en que debía ir a Nínive" instead of "Pero el Señor insistió en que debe ir a Nínive."
They also use the imperfect in situations that seem to call for a past-tense conditional ("should have"):
Si querías baile, debías haber recurrido a mí => If you wanted dancing, you should have come to me
I would have expected "Si querías baile, deberías haber recurrido a mí" (should have). Sometimes I do see "deberías haber" for "should have", and I can't see any pattern to why one is chosen instead of the other.
In some cases, the imperfect is used where the present-tense conditional seems clearly called for, e.g., "debias esperar hasta que llamara" for "you should wait until he calls." There's nothing past-tense-ish about that sentence.
"deberían" ('they should") in particular is used interchangeably with "debían" (literally "in the past they must"), and neither is used for past-tense "they should have".
Can someone explain how Spanish speakers conceptualize these tenses of "deber"? Does the choice of tense work the same way for "deber" as "owe" and "deber" as "must", or are they treated differently?
Why is it strange that the man who was living off of her in Toledo isn't calling her back? Is it because he found some other woman for sex and money? I'm not getting the moral of this story. Why aren't her parents encouraging her to make better relationship decisions? Is this why she decided to forget her boyfriend?
is this correct? i worked in that company durante un año y 3 meses. or should i use the (por) ?
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