"Usted debería beber más agua."
Translation:You should drink more water.
172 Comments
This is incorrect. Deber is should. Necesitar is need to - I am a native Spanish speaker and a Spanish teacher
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I suspected as much, but it's good to have confirmation from a credible source.
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Can this also mean "You should have drunk more water" if not how do you say this in spanish.
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Usted debería haber bebido más agua, ó tú deberías haber bebido más agua
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you can also say "debiste haber bebido más agua" - I asked several native Spanish speakers and they say it means the exact same as Usted debería haber bebido más agua
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Thanks Furbolg, I get that a lot, in fact I think all my comments on this page have been voted down. I enjoy the intricacies of the conditional tense immensely.
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We have to be careful here. "Should have" has a pretty specific meaning in English. It's conditional perfect, which means the basis of the English sentence is "would have", even though in this case "would" has become should, as is so often, very confusingly the case in English. ccfeta, you and I have all approached this slightly differently and have come up with sentences with slightly different meanings. Your sentence translates as:
"You were supposed to have drunk more water", ccfeta's sentences translate as:
"You would be supposed to have drunk more water", and my sentence translates as:
"You would have been supposed to drink more water".
Just deciphering the subtle differences between these three translations can be brain-destroying but I believe that my translation is the only one that accurately captures the meaning and tense/aspect of the original English sentence.
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I 'm no expert, I just go with what sounds correct. If you notice the original statement, "You should have drunk..." also contains a past participle in it.
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Conditions can involve the future, the past or the present.
There is just one form "conditional" in English, but be careful about other languages. There is Condicional and Condicional “im” Perfecto in Spanish, but just wait until you get to the subjunctive.
http://conjugator.reverso.net/conjugation-spanish-verb-poder.html
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When I said there's no such thing as a future conditional, I meant that it's not a separate conjugation form. I don't disagree with you that conditional forms can occur in the past, present or future. The conditional is arguably a separate tense after all.
There is no such thing as the Condicional Imperfecto (did you mean Subjuntivo Imperfecto?). The conditional by definition cannot be cordoned off into different tenses. There is a Condicional Perfecto, just like there is a conditional perfect in English. Your Reverso link supports all of this.
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Yes, my error! I don’t know how or why I added “im” there! That was wrong. Thank you!
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"You should have drunk more water." cannot be a future tense. celieduo was answering SyamkumarR's "...if not how do you say this?"
"You should drink more water." is about the future or a generalization about what you as a person should do.
Conditional in English can include present, past or future.
In Spanish, there is a Perfect conditional form for the past which is different from the conditional form used for the correct sentence for this lesson.
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Usually "should have" refers to a counterfactual past where the speaker informs the listener about preferred alternative behaviour. In this usual usage it is best paraphrased as "would have been supposed (to)".
It is also possible that it could refer to events in the future as "should" is a very versatile word. E.g. if you subscribe to the use of "shall" instead of "will" for the first person then the following sentence is possible:
If I were to run a marathon then I should have trained very hard for it.
And "You should drink more water" isn't necessarily about the future because it is conditional and as you said, conditional can include present, past or future.
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Saludos should es deberia o debe, me podrias poner algun ejemplo de favor, aqui hacen muchas equivalencias y eso confunde
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should = debería
must = debe
to have to = tener que
to need = necesitar
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I TRULY do not understand this section. It seems to me it is a random use of helper verbs in various tenses and that's all. Is that correct? Just new verbs in new tenses? It's not a particular tense? It's just that some verbs are helper verbs and are conjugated like any other verb? Or are they irregular? Gracias if you would answer.
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Yes! Modal verbs in English are helping verbs or auxiliary verbs and "should, could, would" can be timeless and are used in past, present or future in conditional, as well as in the regular past and are also used in polite requests (may, can, could, would) or in suggestions (should) or requirements (must) These are highly irregular in English.
In Spanish, the verbs are still conjugated and there are very specific forms depending on the function of the word. Try to remember that the first course made was the English for Spanish speakers and this is the reverse course of that. They need to expand this section for us, I believe.
Here is an excellent resource about the conditional: https://www.realfastspanish.com/grammar/the-spanish-conditional-tense-5-uses
This resource can help to figure out which tense is being used at the moment. http://conjugator.reverso.net/conjugation-spanish-verb-poder.html
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Being a native English speaker and having taken over five years of Spanish courses, I personally as though both are acceptable. They basically say the same thing except in different ways; one is more of an "order" while the other is more of a suggestion.
Pulga...........native speaker and teacher? Would you send me an email address? What country?
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Why on earth aren't there any tips & and notes for these last lessons?It's really difficult to learn all the different forms without those.First the subjunctive and now that!I don't wanna think about what might be next...
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I agree that it would be nice to have Tips for this section on Verbs:Modal, and for the previous section on Verbs:Subjunctive/Imperative. I needed help with these 2 sections too, so I searched Google (remember to Search The Fine Web.) and found these "tips".
For Verbs:Subjunctive/Imperative -- http://studyspanish.com/lessons/subj1.htm , http://studyspanish.com/lessons/formcomm.htm , http://studyspanish.com/lessons/informcomm1.htm .
And for Verbs:Modal -- http://www.learn-spanish-online.de/grammar/chapter20_modal_verbs/20_1_modal_verbs_introduction.htm , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_verb , https://www.duolingo.com/comment/2381086 , http://blogs.transparent.com/spanish/spanish-lesson-beginner-33-the-modal-verb-can-in-spanish-el-verbo-poder/ .
Tambien:
https://es.wikibooks.org/wiki/Ingl%C3%A9s/Gram%C3%A1tica/Verbos_modales http://www.spanishdict.com/topics/show/68
1) http://users.ipfw.edu/jehle/courses/PASTSUBJ.HTM (2) http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/100058/imperfect-subjunctive#.UqPytvRDuVs (3)http://www.drlemon.com/Grammar/imp-subj.html#.UqPyX_RDuVs
Also see DL Discussion topic
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Why is "you must drink more water" considered wrong? Isn't deber "must" or "should"?
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"Usted debe" is "you must", "usted debería" is more mild "you should".
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I think "debe" is present tense so there is no conditional meaning there. Use "must". "Deberia" is conditional. The conditional for "must" is "should". Subtle difference.
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Thanks for the insight into how "debe" and "debería" work in Spanish. I agree that "must" and "should" have a relationship in both languages, but not that the difference is subtle in English. "Must" is used when the speaker considers the action compulsory: You must watch where you're going. "Should" is used when the statement is more of a request, albeit some requests are almost a command: You should watch where you're going. One distinction worth noting is that "must" and "ought" are each considered to be both present and past tenses in English, while "should" is viewed as a past tense (of "shall") in English. That's why English retains the almost obsolete word "ought"–it's versatility in terms of describing time/tense.
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The conditional for "must" is "should" and here the word for both of those is conjugated into the actual conditional tense which in Spanish essentially implies "would". It's like a sick conjoining of "must", "should" and "would" into some abominable word.
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Yes, that is one meaning of deber, but going from English to Spanish "should" is translated as "debería". Don't forget that "tener que" also means "to have to and "would have to" is often "tendría que". https://dictionary.reverso.net/english-spanish/should
http://context.reverso.net/translation/english-spanish/would+have+to
https://www.realfastspanish.com/grammar/the-spanish-conditional-tense-5-uses
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@ALLintolearning3 my comment was more about English than Spanish but I mostly I agree with you. Just bear in mind that "should" has lots of different meanings and not all of them equate to "debería".
Also, as you are no doubt aware, "must" does not have a conditional form in modern English and thus uses the same conditional form as "have to" ("would have to"). When "would have to" is a form of "must" it translates better to "debería" and when it is a form of "have to" it translates better to "tendría que". So things are not as simple as a 1:1 translation.
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"Should" isn't the conditional of "must", "should" is the conditional of "shall". "would have to" is the only conditional form of "must" (except for archaically where "must" originated as a conditional form). Bottom line is that moving to conditional does not soften the meaning.
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According to Spanish Dictionary the translation is should or must. How are supposed to know what DL wants? You must drink more water SHOULD be accepted. We have used must for the same word throughout this lesson and it is correct.
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Yes, "deber" can mean either, now check "debería"
https://www.realfastspanish.com/grammar/the-spanish-conditional-tense-5-uses
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Debes is an obligation: You MUST drink more water = Tú debes beber más agua. You have to do it or you will die or get sick. Deberías is a recommendation: You SHOULD drink more water= Tú deberías beber más agua.
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"Deber" is "should" or "ought to", "must," "have to". https://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=deber
Based on the RAE (http://buscon.rae.es/dpd/?key=deber&origen=REDPD) deber is obligation and deber de is probability.
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I've created a mnemonic device to help me memorize the difference. "DeSPiCable". The first four consonants form "DSPC" , DS -> Deberia - Should, PC -> Podria - Could. This has helped me a bit through this section.
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Debería was previuosly presented as "must" why would that not be accepted here?
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"Deber" can be either, but check the conditional. "Debe" was previously presented as "must". "Debería" is "should"
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Why the conditional form "deberia" is used here? Can I use "usted deberá beber mas agua" ?
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"Deberá" is future tense, so it would mean "You will have to drink more water".
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Seeing as "debería" is the conditional form, why not "You would have to drink more water."?
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That would be "Tendría que beber más agua." Sorry, but "Debería..." is "You should..." http://www.spanishdict.com/examples/deber%C3%ADa
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As per my other replies, I think you're over-simplifying things a bit. "would have to" is both the conditional form of "have to" and "must".
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To be polite. The conditional tense can be used as a milder way of telling someone to do something.
"Usted debería beber más agua" = You should drink more water (but I'm not going to force you; it was just a suggestion)
"Usted debe beber más agua" = You have to drink more water (not a suggestion)
You can also use the conditional to be polite when asking for directions.
"Podría decirme..." = Could you tell me...
Also, conditional in Spanish is used for doubt, hesitation, possibility.
You "ought to/ should go" is not the same as "you must/ have to/ need.
In English, we also use this hesitation, doubt, possibility concept to be polite.
for English modals, "may, could, might," use the conditional. (I believe, see https://es.wikibooks.org/wiki/Ingl%C3%A9s/Gram%C3%A1tica/Verbos_modales
One also uses subjunctive to express doubt etc., but not, I think, for those modals I just mentioned.
Someone correct me if I am wrong, please.
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This site says different http://www.spanishdict.com/topics/show/98
Their using the imp. Subjunctive. For polite requests
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Take another look at that the Imperfect Subjunctive
"can be used to make very polite requests." So that is not the only way to make polite requests, the conditional verbs are also used for "polite requests".
https://www.realfastspanish.com/grammar/the-spanish-conditional-tense-5-uses
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Need is definitely not the right translation. Necesitar is to need. Deber is not.
A duck ain't a drake and a drake ain't a duck but you might mistake one for the other if you do not look closely.
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A duck isn't a drake, but a drake is most certainly a male duck. You are right that they are not synonymous.
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I know I said that too but then my professor from Spain yelled at me when I used necesitar to say "must" and he was like "Noooooooo use deber"
I don't quite agree. They have differing conoration, one if need and the other of requirement.
I once passed outvst work. When I came to l was required to take an ambulence to the nearby medical facility even though I could easily have walk. I said I didn't need to take an an ambulance. They responded that I must take it whether I need it or not.
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"Usted debería beber más agua."
Translation: You should drink more water.
My doubt is what is conditional in the above sentence. Why is the Spanish version in conditional. Thanks a lot in advance.
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Why isn't this "you would need to drink more water"? Wouldn't "you need to drink more water" be "usted debe beber más agua"?
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No, "debe" is not "would need", that means "must"
"Deberïa" is "should"
"You would need to drink more water" is "Necesitaría beber más agua."
"You would have to drink more water." is "Tendría que beber más agua."
https://dictionary.reverso.net/english-spanish/to%20need
http://conjugator.reverso.net/conjugation-spanish-verb-necesitar.html
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Okay I need a break from this stuff. Here is an educational & fun learning video for spanish. Take a break and enjoy.
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That video no longer works because the Youtube account associated with that video has been terminated.
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"Would have to" = "tendría que"
"Debería" = "should"
Strange, huh?
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Okay, I am not a native English speaker so I thought the two expressions were completely equivalent, but after reading through the thread I realize there is some subtle difference.
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Not all the meanings of "must" can be replaced with "have to" https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/must
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Repeating this twice and making it a cknditiln of finishing the series does not make it correct!
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La respuesta correcta para "You need to drink more water" es "Usted necesita beber más agua"
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My answer was "you must drink more water" and it was marked wrong. I know for a fact that deberia means either must or should.
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"deber" can mean either, but the conditional is a more polite version. "debe" means "must"; "debería" means "should"
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you can use deber for should and for must , but at least it should accept must also or change the question to need to drink more water
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"Had to" is past tense, so it would be "Usted debía" (Imprefect) or "Usted debió" (Preterite).
I am trying to understand this verb conjugation, but deberia (accent on the i) does not exist on the conjugation table provided by duolingo. I still don't get it.
Don't use the tools that Duo provides. Use WordReference or SpanishDict instead
Thanks for the tip. I have been using that site sometimes. It is helpful. It would seem like Duolingo would provide this, but considering that duo is a free site, I won't complain too loudly.
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Debes is more along the lines of "you must". It implies a greater level of obligation than "you should" does.
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I completely don't buy this assumption that changing to conditional somehow reduces the verb's level of obligation. That's just not how conditional works. The reality is that in English we tend to use the "must" and "have to" in non-conditional forms and "should" in the conditional form. But we mustn't forget that "should" can be used non-conditionally, that even "shall" is used occasionally, and that the correct conditional form of "must"/"have to" is "would have to".
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This is Spanish, not English. "Debería" is "should" https://www.duolingo.com/dictionary/Spanish/deber%C3%ADa-deber-modal+verb-conditional-third+person-singular/0b34913a600ede1a94f5ec3071660620 "would have to" is "tendría que"
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That's a strange comment. This course is about translating between the two languages so of course the nuances of the English conditional are just as relevant as for Spanish, especially when English is quite complicated in this area.
As for how you've decided to translate deberiá, should, tendría que, have to. I've covered this in other replies today so I don't want to repeat myself too much but it is important to acknowledge that these words can have a variety of nuanced meanings that have to be taken into account when translating. Just grabbing one example from Reverso or a Duolingo page isn't going to cut it. There certainly isn't a 1:1 relationship between debería and should, nor between tendría que and would have to. Should can be indicative, conditional, subjunctive, present tense or past tense, can mean "must" or simply "will". "would have to" can either be a form of "have to" or "must" which might change the shades of its meaning. Deber is far broader than it's English equivalents, it could mean "must", "shall", "should", "ought to", "need to", "supposed to" etc.
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I agree with a lot of what you say, but you don’t give any sources at all. Expertise in only one of the two languages is not enough to know which word best translates as which word. Some words do change meaning sometimes. What we do in English does not define what they do in Spanish. If you want to add other translations to the database, then you should report them with your sources. I give a couple of sources here and there, but I find similar information over and over again. I am sure that you can find sources for your assertions also.
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Is 'had better' too strong for 'deberia'? It was not accepted
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Debe should actually be accepted because in English should is used in both conditional and non-conditional contexts.
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Earlier, DL said deberia is 'must' or 'should'. DL equated them in two possible answers when I used 'would' Now I use 'must' and it marks me wrong saying only 'should' is accepted.
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Debería is subjunctive. Deber or, in 3rd person singular, debe means must or needs to. The subjunctive of must is should. Tricky....
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Condicional. The subjunctivo of deber is deba. .. Deber in the conditional and used as an auxiliary verb translates to "should". In the present tense, it translates to "must" because it is more emphatic or insistent than "tener que.." which is used for "have to...".
The conditional of other verbs translate to "would + verb..." ie. veria - would see, conduciria = would drive, iria = would go, viviria = would live, etc.
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ok, so "could" does not work with deber? I was so confused yesterday, I am actually REDO-ing this.
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"Could" is for "podría"
"should" is for "debería"
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deber is must and should, but for some reason it only accepts should...
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You are right. In this case it is "should" because it is the conditional tense. In the present tense, it would translate as "must".
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To be accurate, debería is "would have to" or "should", deber is "must", "have to", "should" (if it's not being used conditionally), "shall" or a few others.
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"would have to" is "Tendría que" https://www.duolingo.com/dictionary/Spanish/deber%C3%ADa-deber-modal+verb-conditional-third+person-singular/0b34913a600ede1a94f5ec3071660620
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I agree that's usually the case and nothing I wrote above contradicted that. I was simply giving a detailed list of translation options for debería and deber.
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In general, the Conditional tense translates as "would...." and whatever the verb means, ie. comeria = would eat. "Could" is the conditional form of "can" ie. podria. "Should" is the conditional form of "deber".
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When I click on "Conjugate" then "debería" is not in the list in any verb form. So either the word does not exist or they need to update the lists.
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I don't know where you are looking but you can see a full conjugation table for deber at http://www.wordreference.com/conj/ESverbs.aspx?v=deber
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Thanks. I also found that it is actually in the Conjugation table here but you have to click on "Show more tenses". I never noticed that before.
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I open another tab in my browser and bring up linquasorb verbs: http://www.linguasorb.com/spanish/verbs/most-common-verbs/ to reference while I study.
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+Pulga Vols
"Ought" means the same thing as "Should" in American English. That's a Western/Southern American slang word and might also be seen as "Oughtta" which would mean "You ought to" [followed by an action] AKA "You should" [followed by an action]. For me as an American native, those words are interchangeable in use and circumstanse.
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Also when i say America i mean the United States of America. Not Central or South America or Canada. So sorry if that might have been a skewed idea from me.
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Im confused because I just read an entire review on the conditional... Practically saying that it is used to describe what someone "would do in the future" Por Ejemplo..
Usted llamaría al doctor. (You would call the doctor.) Él sacaría la basura por ti. (He would take out the trash for you.)
But here they are using it as a polite suggestion "you should do"?
Ayudarme por favor!
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Please refer to my previous comments on this thread.
Quickly, you are right about the conditional tense. The confusion seems to be that would and should are the same. "Would" is used to translate a verb in the conditional tense to English, except for the verbs for can=poder and must/shall=deber, which become "could" and "should", respectively, in the conditional.
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Lol i'm literally in this Modalidades (for Verbs) section and dont even know what a Modal is. Could someone explain what a modal is and whats its function is? I think i can assume that a modal is just another way to say one thing such as "You should" compared to "You ought to" and such, but what after that? Thanks to all who help.
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I am probably not the right person to answer this but I googled "modal verbs" before and it said:
"an auxiliary verb that expresses necessity or possibility. English modal verbs include must, shall, will, should, would, can, could, may, and might"
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You are the right person to answer, sorb78, and your answer is entirely correct and appropriate. We all signed up for DL's program in return for an obligation to help each other, so thank you for your help, and thank you for reminding us that we should all do so when we can.
I admit that it can get a little frustrating to be asked so frequently to do other people's homework for them, but there may well be a genuine reason why someone can't look up the answer themselves. You have set a good example, and I will try to be a little more patient in the future.
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Thanks Roger! I don't think there is an obligation to help but it is often appreciated :)
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http://www.spanishdict.com/conjugate/deber gives would in stead of should. Can anyone explain?
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I could not find that anywhere in spanishdict. There was one example something like "It would be his duty" - in this case deber is used as the word for "duty" not "would."
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Just so you guys know as of 20/11/16.... when you click on the word the definition shows should which is not the same as need... maybe someone who is confident should report it!?
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So is the conditional tense/form marked (for lack of a better word) in Spanish but not in English?
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In English the conditional is usually marked by adding the word "would" in front of the verb. Unfortunately this exercise translates a conditional Spanish sentence into a non-conditional English sentence, it's not a great translation in my opinion.
Deber can have a range of meanings in English. So e.g. if deber means "must" or "have to" then debería means "would have to" and if deber means "shall" then debería means "should".
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Coment 116 the 1s plus each othe equal 2 the 6 divided by 2 equals 3 there are 3 sides to a triangle illuminatii confermed
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"You must drink more water" was marked wrong. Corrected to "should"
What would the sentence with "must" be in Spanish?
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I don't know what I'm doing here..... I mean I'm bilingual... SPANISH IS MY MOTHER LANGUAGE FOR GOD'S SAKE!
I wrote, " You must drink more water", and it corrected me thus: "You should drink more water". Up until this point, I thought "deber" meant "must".
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Why is "you must drink more water" wrong? The answer you gave previously said "should drink"!
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if i translate as "should" it says the correct answer is "must". If I translate as "must" it says the correct answer is "should". Consistency please or wider acceptance of "should" "must" or "ought to"
