Debe vs. Debe de

[chileno]

Originally Posted by tacuba

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

Right, but look at these:


El cuarto debió estar muy sucio porque cuando salió estaba lleno de polvo.
The room must have been really dirty because when she came out she was covered with dust.


El cuarto debe haber estado muy sucio porque cuando salió estaba lleno de polvo.

So...

must have been = deber (in preterit) + estar (infinitive)

I must have been crazy ... = debí estar loco ...


Debo haber estado loco.

I = yo

must =deber

have = tener/haber

been = estado/sido