Confusing 'debiste' (Preterite) with 'deberías' (Conditional)

The '-iste' ending always tells you that the action happened in the past, and that the subject is 'tú' (the informal 'you').

Identifying 'Tú' Past Tense

While 'debiste' literally means 'you had to' (a factual necessity), in daily conversation, it's often used to give strong, critical advice about something that already happened: 'You should have done X.'

Past Advice vs. Past Obligation

If you want to sound less critical, you can use the Conditional Perfect: 'Habrías debido ir' (You would have been obligated to go). But 'debiste' is faster and very common.

Softer Criticism

Extremely common, especially in conversations expressing criticism or regret about a past action.

Learn the meaning of the Spanish verb form 'debiste' ('you should have' or 'you had to'), its conjugation, and how to use it to express past regret or criticism.

debiste

Complete Conjugation Tables

🔄 Conjugations

indicative

present

future

imperfect

conditional

preterite

imperative

negative

affirmative

subjunctive

present

imperfect

Practice Conjugations