Debe vs. Debe de
 

When should you use Debe and when should you use Debe de,
tambien,
hay alguien aqui que sepa adonde puedo encontrar un website de escritura en Espanol. I feel that I really need to work on my grammar and sentence structures.

Both are used. Some adherents of the language insist on the presence of the preposition.

"Deber" id used when something must be some way.
"Deber de" is used when one makes a guess about something one expects to be some way.


Debo terminar mi trabajo esta tarde.
I must finish my work this afternoon.

Había demasiados errores en mi trabajo. Debo de haberme distraído.
There were too many errors in my work. I must have been distracted.

Debes ir a ver a tu madre al hospital.
You must go and see your mother in the hospital.

Encontré a la señora inconsciente en el suelo. Debe de haberse caído de la escalera.
I found the lady unconscious on the floor. She must have fallen from the stairs.

WorkingMom - I like this thread ... and am going to follow it. I wonder if you could also ask the second question in a separate thread? I think it would be more likely to get thorough answers that way. :)

I always thought deber meant 'should' but in these examples, should and must come across differently. So how would you say should instead of must?

:applause:You're a good teacher. deber +de+haberse has a specific meaning that
I have heard in speech but never quite contrued it. Thank you.

Debiera or deberia?

There are no automatic translations, but I agree with Hernán that "debería" is a good one for this kind of sentences.


It's late. I should be finishing my work by now.
Es tarde. Ya debería de estar terminando mi trabajo.

You shouldn't be so rude.
No deberías ser tan grosero.


@Poli: Thank you. :o
Just a little note: it's not only "deber de" + haberse...

El teléfono suena. Debe de ser Juan.
The telephone is ringing. It must be Juan.

Son las siete. La tienda ya debe de estar cerrada.
It's already seven o'clock. The store must be already closed.

Hi Malila. I was also confused by the "must have been" construction and I posted the question in another thread. David answered:
Are these just different approaches to saying the same thing?

Thanks

@Tacuba: *ouch!* :thinking:

I'm sure David must have a reason to avoid the preposition, but I would have used "deber de" in both cases.

El cuarto debió de estar muy sucio porque...

Debí de estar loco./Debí de haber estado loco.


...I was taught to differenciate the duty and the supposition this way. :thinking: