Confusing 'Deberías' and 'Debes'

Use 'deberías' to give a suggestion or advice. It's much softer and more polite than 'debes' or 'tienes que'. Just add the base form of another verb right after it, like 'deberías comer' (you should eat).

Giving Friendly Advice

When you want to recommend a movie, a restaurant, or a course of action to a friend, 'deberías' is the perfect word. It shows you care without being bossy.

The Perfect Suggestion Word

Extremely common. This is the go-to way to give friendly advice or make a suggestion.

You can use 'deberías' to talk about what you think is probably true. It's like saying 'you must be...' or 'you're probably...' based on some evidence. For example, 'Si estudiaste, deberías saber la respuesta' (If you studied, you should know the answer).

Making Educated Guesses

To know if 'deberías' means 'you should' (advice) or 'you must be' (guess), look at the context. If it's about a choice or action, it's advice. If it's about a state or a fact, it's probably a guess.

Spotting the Difference

Commonly used to make a logical guess or state something that is probably true.

Learn the full meaning of 'deberías' in Spanish. Understand how to use it for giving advice ('you should') and making guesses ('you must be'), with full conjugation tables, examples, and common mistakes.

deberías

Complete Conjugation Tables

🔄 Conjugations

indicative

present

future

imperfect

conditional

preterite

imperative

negative

affirmative

subjunctive

present

imperfect

Practice Conjugations