deber

must, ought to; to owepor tiempo-er regular

participio debidogerundio debiendohe + participio he debidoestoy + gerundio estoy debiendo

Presentewhat is going on now

Presente

Present — what is happening now, and what happens habitually

yo	deboI have to	nosotros	debemoswe have to
tú	debesyou have to	vosotros	debéisyou all have to
él/ella/Ud.	debehe/she has to	ellos/Uds.	debenthey have to

Pretérito perfecto

Present perfect — have —ed; a past still touching now. Spain: today, this week. Latin America: mostly the indefinido instead

yo	he debidoI have had to	nosotros	hemos debidowe have had to
tú	has debidoyou have had to	vosotros	habéis debidoyou all have had to
él/ella/Ud.	ha debidohe/she has had to	ellos/Uds.	han debidothey have had to

Presente de subjuntivo

Present subjunctive — after que with wishes, doubt, emotion, ojalá

yo	deba(that) I have to	nosotros	debamos(that) we have to
tú	debas(that) you have to	vosotros	debáis(that) you all have to
él/ella/Ud.	deba(that) he/she has to	ellos/Uds.	deban(that) they have to

Perfecto de subjuntivo

Present perfect subjunctive — have —ed, under doubt or emotion: no creo que haya venido

yo	haya debido(that) I have had to	nosotros	hayamos debido(that) we have had to
tú	hayas debido(that) you have had to	vosotros	hayáis debido(that) you all have had to
él/ella/Ud.	haya debido(that) he/she has had to	ellos/Uds.	hayan debido(that) they have had to

Pasadowhat went on

Pretérito indefinido

Preterite — a finished past action — it started, it ended

yo	debíI had to	nosotros	debimoswe had to
tú	debisteyou had to	vosotros	debisteisyou all had to
él/ella/Ud.	debióhe/she had to	ellos/Uds.	debieronthey had to

Pretérito imperfecto

Imperfect — used to / was —ing; background, habits, descriptions

yo	debíaI used to have to	nosotros	debíamoswe used to have to
tú	debíasyou used to have to	vosotros	debíaisyou all used to have to
él/ella/Ud.	debíahe/she used to have to	ellos/Uds.	debíanthey used to have to

Pretérito pluscuamperfecto

Past perfect — had —ed; further back than another past event

yo	había debidoI had had to	nosotros	habíamos debidowe had had to
tú	habías debidoyou had had to	vosotros	habíais debidoyou all had had to
él/ella/Ud.	había debidohe/she had had to	ellos/Uds.	habían debidothey had had to

Imperfecto de subjuntivo (-ra)

Imperfect subjunctive — si clauses and past-tense wishes: si tuviera, quería que fuera

yo	debiera(that) I had to	nosotros	debiéramos(that) we had to
tú	debieras(that) you had to	vosotros	debierais(that) you all had to
él/ella/Ud.	debiera(that) he/she had to	ellos/Uds.	debieran(that) they had to

Imperfecto de subjuntivo (-se)

Imperfect subjunctive — the same tense, second form; commoner in Spain and in writing

yo	debiese(that) I had to	nosotros	debiésemos(that) we had to
tú	debieses(that) you had to	vosotros	debieseis(that) you all had to
él/ella/Ud.	debiese(that) he/she had to	ellos/Uds.	debiesen(that) they had to

Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo

Past perfect subjunctive — had —ed, hypothetically: si hubiera sabido

yo	hubiera debido(that) I had had to	nosotros	hubiéramos debido(that) we had had to
tú	hubieras debido(that) you had had to	vosotros	hubierais debido(that) you all had had to
él/ella/Ud.	hubiera debido(that) he/she had had to	ellos/Uds.	hubieran debido(that) they had had to

Pretérito anterior

Preterite perfect — had —ed, immediately before; literary, all but extinct

yo	hube debidoI had had to	nosotros	hubimos debidowe had had to
tú	hubiste debidoyou had had to	vosotros	hubisteis debidoyou all had had to
él/ella/Ud.	hubo debidohe/she had had to	ellos/Uds.	hubieron debidothey had had to

Futurowhat will or would go on

Futuro simple

Future — will — (spoken Spanish often prefers voy a + infinitivo)

yo	deberéI will have to	nosotros	deberemoswe will have to
tú	deberásyou will have to	vosotros	deberéisyou all will have to
él/ella/Ud.	deberáhe/she will have to	ellos/Uds.	deberánthey will have to

Condicional simple

Conditional — would —; also softens a request into politeness

yo	deberíaI would have to	nosotros	deberíamoswe would have to
tú	deberíasyou would have to	vosotros	deberíaisyou all would have to
él/ella/Ud.	deberíahe/she would have to	ellos/Uds.	deberíanthey would have to

Futuro perfecto

Future perfect — will have —ed; done by some future point

yo	habré debidoI will have had to	nosotros	habremos debidowe will have had to
tú	habrás debidoyou will have had to	vosotros	habréis debidoyou all will have had to
él/ella/Ud.	habrá debidohe/she will have had to	ellos/Uds.	habrán debidothey will have had to

Condicional perfecto

Conditional perfect — would have —ed; the road not taken

yo	habría debidoI would have had to	nosotros	habríamos debidowe would have had to
tú	habrías debidoyou would have had to	vosotros	habríais debidoyou all would have had to
él/ella/Ud.	habría debidohe/she would have had to	ellos/Uds.	habrían debidothey would have had to

Futuro de subjuntivo

Future subjunctive — legal and proverbial only: adonde fueres, haz lo que vieres

yo	debiere(should) I have to	nosotros	debiéremos(should) we have to
tú	debieres(should) you have to	vosotros	debiereis(should) you all have to
él/ella/Ud.	debiere(should) he/she have to	ellos/Uds.	debieren(should) they have to

Imperativotelling someone to

Imperativo afirmativo

Imperative (do it) — orders and requests; there is no yo form

yo	—	nosotros	debamoslet's have to
tú	debehave to!	vosotros	debedhave to!
él/ella/Ud.	debahave to!	ellos/Uds.	debanhave to!

Imperativo negativo

Imperative (don't) — no + subjunctive — never the affirmative form with no in front

yo	—	nosotros	no debamoslet's not have to
tú	no debasdon't have to	vosotros	no debáisdon't have to
él/ella/Ud.	no debadon't have to	ellos/Uds.	no debandon't have to

Imagen. Reloj antiguo — traducido de Antique Watch (Vintage RS · stocksnap · CC0)

deber

must, ought to; to owepor persona-er regular

participio debidogerundio debiendohe + participio he debidoestoy + gerundio estoy debiendo

yo

I — the speaker

Presente	deboI have to
Perfecto	he debidoI have had to
Subj. presente	deba(that) I have to
Subj. perfecto	haya debido(that) I have had to
Futuro	deberéI will have to
Condicional	deberíaI would have to
Fut. perfecto	habré debidoI will have had to
Cond. perfecto	habría debidoI would have had to
Subj. futuro	debiere(should) I have to

Indefinido	debíI had to
Imperfecto	debíaI used to have to
Pluscuamp.	había debidoI had had to
Subj. imperf.	debiera(that) I had to
Subj. -se	debiese(that) I had to
Subj. pluscuamp.	hubiera debido(that) I had had to
Pret. anterior	hube debidoI had had to
Imperativo	—
Imper. negativo	—

nosotros / nosotras

we — the speaker plus others

Presente	debemoswe have to
Perfecto	hemos debidowe have had to
Subj. presente	debamos(that) we have to
Subj. perfecto	hayamos debido(that) we have had to
Futuro	deberemoswe will have to
Condicional	deberíamoswe would have to
Fut. perfecto	habremos debidowe will have had to
Cond. perfecto	habríamos debidowe would have had to
Subj. futuro	debiéremos(should) we have to

Indefinido	debimoswe had to
Imperfecto	debíamoswe used to have to
Pluscuamp.	habíamos debidowe had had to
Subj. imperf.	debiéramos(that) we had to
Subj. -se	debiésemos(that) we had to
Subj. pluscuamp.	hubiéramos debido(that) we had had to
Pret. anterior	hubimos debidowe had had to
Imperativo	debamoslet's have to
Imper. negativo	no debamoslet's not have to

tú

you (informal) — one person you are familiar with

Presente	debesyou have to
Perfecto	has debidoyou have had to
Subj. presente	debas(that) you have to
Subj. perfecto	hayas debido(that) you have had to
Futuro	deberásyou will have to
Condicional	deberíasyou would have to
Fut. perfecto	habrás debidoyou will have had to
Cond. perfecto	habrías debidoyou would have had to
Subj. futuro	debieres(should) you have to

Indefinido	debisteyou had to
Imperfecto	debíasyou used to have to
Pluscuamp.	habías debidoyou had had to
Subj. imperf.	debieras(that) you had to
Subj. -se	debieses(that) you had to
Subj. pluscuamp.	hubieras debido(that) you had had to
Pret. anterior	hubiste debidoyou had had to
Imperativo	debehave to!
Imper. negativo	no debasdon't have to

vosotros / vosotras

you all — informal plural, Spain only

Presente	debéisyou all have to
Perfecto	habéis debidoyou all have had to
Subj. presente	debáis(that) you all have to
Subj. perfecto	hayáis debido(that) you all have had to
Futuro	deberéisyou all will have to
Condicional	deberíaisyou all would have to
Fut. perfecto	habréis debidoyou all will have had to
Cond. perfecto	habríais debidoyou all would have had to
Subj. futuro	debiereis(should) you all have to

Indefinido	debisteisyou all had to
Imperfecto	debíaisyou all used to have to
Pluscuamp.	habíais debidoyou all had had to
Subj. imperf.	debierais(that) you all had to
Subj. -se	debieseis(that) you all had to
Subj. pluscuamp.	hubierais debido(that) you all had had to
Pret. anterior	hubisteis debidoyou all had had to
Imperativo	debedhave to!
Imper. negativo	no debáisdon't have to

él / ella / usted

he, she, you (formal) — one other person — formal you shares it

Presente	debehe/she has to
Perfecto	ha debidohe/she has had to
Subj. presente	deba(that) he/she has to
Subj. perfecto	haya debido(that) he/she has had to
Futuro	deberáhe/she will have to
Condicional	deberíahe/she would have to
Fut. perfecto	habrá debidohe/she will have had to
Cond. perfecto	habría debidohe/she would have had to
Subj. futuro	debiere(should) he/she have to

Indefinido	debióhe/she had to
Imperfecto	debíahe/she used to have to
Pluscuamp.	había debidohe/she had had to
Subj. imperf.	debiera(that) he/she had to
Subj. -se	debiese(that) he/she had to
Subj. pluscuamp.	hubiera debido(that) he/she had had to
Pret. anterior	hubo debidohe/she had had to
Imperativo	debahave to!
Imper. negativo	no debadon't have to

ellos / ellas / ustedes

they, you all — several others — plural you shares it

Presente	debenthey have to
Perfecto	han debidothey have had to
Subj. presente	deban(that) they have to
Subj. perfecto	hayan debido(that) they have had to
Futuro	deberánthey will have to
Condicional	deberíanthey would have to
Fut. perfecto	habrán debidothey will have had to
Cond. perfecto	habrían debidothey would have had to
Subj. futuro	debieren(should) they have to

Indefinido	debieronthey had to
Imperfecto	debíanthey used to have to
Pluscuamp.	habían debidothey had had to
Subj. imperf.	debieran(that) they had to
Subj. -se	debiesen(that) they had to
Subj. pluscuamp.	hubieran debido(that) they had had to
Pret. anterior	hubieron debidothey had had to
Imperativo	debanhave to!
Imper. negativo	no debandon't have to

Imagen. Reloj antiguo — traducido de Antique Watch (Vintage RS · stocksnap · CC0)