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Conjugation Chart

“Deber” (to owe, must) in the Imperfect Tense

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Understanding the Imperfect Tense of “Deber”

The Imperfect Tense of deber is used to express an ongoing obligation, duty, or probability in the past. For example, Yo debía estudiar más para el examen. (I should have studied more for the exam.)

Deber is a regular -er verb, so its conjugations in the Imperfect Tense follow the standard pattern for that verb type.

How to Use Deber in the Imperfect Tense

The imperfect tense of deber is used to express an ongoing obligation, duty, or probability in the past.

Obligation or duty: For example, Yo debía estudiar más para el examen. (I should have studied more for the exam.)

Probability: For example, Debía ser muy tarde porque no había nadie en la calle. (It must have been very late because there was nobody on the street.)

Polite request: For example, ¿Debías hacer algo esta tarde? (Were you supposed to do something this afternoon?)

Assumption or deduction: For example, Con tanto ruido, debían estar teniendo una fiesta. (With so much noise, they must have been having a party.)

Idiomatic usage: For example, ¡Debías haber visto su cara! (You should have seen his face!)

Real Life Examples of Deber in the Imperfect Tense

Yo debía hacer la tarea, pero me quedé dormido. (I should have done the homework, but I fell asleep.)

Ellos debían llegar a tiempo a la reunión, pero el tráfico estaba horrible. (They should have arrived on time for the meeting, but the traffic was horrible.)

Tú debías avisarme antes de tomar esa decisión. (You should have let me know before making that decision.)

Nosotros debíamos estudiar más para el examen, la verdad. (We really should have studied more for the exam.)

¿Por qué debías ser tan grosero con ella? Eso no estuvo nada bien. (Why did you have to be so rude to her? That was not okay at all.)

Ella debía estar en casa hace una hora, me pregunto dónde andará. (She should have been home an hour ago, I wonder where she is.)

Según las reglas, debíamos entregar el proyecto antes del viernes. (According to the rules, we should have turned in the project before Friday.)

¿No debías estar trabajando en lugar de perder el tiempo? (Shouldn’t you have been working instead of wasting time?)

Mis amigos debían avisarme que iban a llegar tarde a la fiesta. (My friends should have let me know they were going to be late to the party.)

La verdad es que yo debía haberlo pensado mejor antes de actuar así. (The truth is I should have thought it through better before acting that way.)

¿Por qué debías ser tan descuidado y olvidar las llaves dentro del carro? (Why did you have to be so careless and forget the keys in the car?)

Ellas debían haber llegado más temprano para conseguir buenos asientos. (They should have arrived earlier to get good seats.)

Según mi mamá, debíamos portarnos mejor cuando éramos niños. (According to my mom, we should have behaved better when we were kids.)

Ustedes debían haber avisado que iban a traer visitas. (You all should have let us know you were bringing guests.)

¿No debías estar ahorrando en lugar de gastar tanto dinero? (Shouldn’t you have been saving instead of spending so much money?)

Conjugation Chart with English Translations

Conjugations of Deber (to owe, must) in the Imperfect Tense (Latin American Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Latin American Spanish. For Castilian Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Imperfect tense is also known as the Past Imperfect, Descriptive Past, Past Progressive, or Imperfect Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Imperfecto, Copretérito, Imperfecto de Indicativo, or Pasado Descriptivo in Spanish.