Conjugations
Present Presente
Habits, current states, and general facts.
| Subject | Verb form | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| yo | debo | |
| tú | debes | |
| él / ella / usted | debe | |
| nosotros / nosotras | debemos | |
| vosotros / vosotras | debéis | |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | deben |
Preterite Pretérito perfecto simple
Actions viewed as completed events in the past.
| Subject | Verb form | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| yo | debí | |
| tú | debiste | |
| él / ella / usted | debió | |
| nosotros / nosotras | debimos | |
| vosotros / vosotras | debisteis | |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | debieron |
Imperfect Pretérito imperfecto
Past habits, descriptions, and actions in progress.
| Subject | Verb form | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| yo | debía | |
| tú | debías | |
| él / ella / usted | debía | |
| nosotros / nosotras | debíamos | |
| vosotros / vosotras | debíais | |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | debían |
Future Futuro simple
Future events; also used to express a guess about the present.
| Subject | Verb form | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| yo | deberé | |
| tú | deberás | |
| él / ella / usted | deberá | |
| nosotros / nosotras | deberemos | |
| vosotros / vosotras | deberéis | |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | deberán |
Conditional Condicional simple
Hypothetical events and some polite requests.
| Subject | Verb form | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| yo | debería | |
| tú | deberías | |
| él / ella / usted | debería | |
| nosotros / nosotras | deberíamos | |
| vosotros / vosotras | deberíais | |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | deberían |
Present subjunctive Presente de subjuntivo
Used in certain clauses expressing wishes, doubt, feelings, and other non-asserted situations.
| Subject | Verb form | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| yo | deba | |
| tú | debas | |
| él / ella / usted | deba | |
| nosotros / nosotras | debamos | |
| vosotros / vosotras | debáis | |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | deban |
Use ustedes for plural “you” in Latin America. Its verb form matches ellos / ellas. Vos forms are not included. Google voice when available; device voice as a fallback.
Meaning & usage
- to owe
- (colloquial) must, need to, have to (indicates an obligation or requirement)
- must (used to indicate that something is likely)
English glosses are a starting point. The meaning of a verb can change with context, a preposition, or se. Read the full dictionary entry ↗
Meanings and conjugation data adapted from English Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki.org / Wiktextract. Frequency scores from wordfreq 3.1.1 by Robyn Speer and contributors. Adapted data is available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Entry source · Sources, download & limitations