“should” in the future: “deberá”

In this post, I’m not going to discuss whether “deber” is translated as “must” or “should”. You can already find lots of discussion of that topic on the Internet. I’m going to translate it as “should” for the purposes of this article.

Instead, I want to point out a common usage of the future tense in Spanish which English speakers find either odd or confusing or both. Most language learners learn that:

debería   deberíamos
deberías  deberíais
debería   deberían

which is actually the conditional tense form of “deber”, and is also what is usually translated into English as “should” when referring to something in the present:

Deberías estudiar más. = You should study more.
No deberías comer tanto. = You shouldn’t eat so much.
Deberían bajar los precios. = They should lower the prices.

All of the examples imply something that can/could be acted on NOW.

When we refer to something that should be done in the FUTURE, you can also use the future tense of deber:

Deberás estudiar más este fin de semana. = You should study more this weekend.
No deberás comer tanto cuando vuelvas a casa. = You shouldn’t eat so much when you go back home.
Deberán bajar los precios el año que viene. = They should lower the prices next year.

So what’s the difference between “deberías estudiar más” and “deberás estudiar más”? Well, that’s where the “should” or “must” debate starts again. Some would argue that the “deberás estudiar más” example above should be translated as “You must study more this weekend” when in reality, it could be either “should” or “must”, depending on the situation and the kind of emphasis you give it. It’s definitely not a black and white issue.

Brad

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Tags: learn spanish, spanish should shouldn't debería