Deber Conjugation 101: Conjugate Deber in Spanish

Deber is an essential -ER verb since it allows you to express obligation. Additionally, it’s an easy verb that will help you get familiar with the -ER conjugation model. So, in this guide, we’ll review deber conjugation charts for the most important tenses. 

Overview of Deber

Verb CharacteristicProperty
Verb Type-ER
IrregularNo
InfinitiveDeber
Gerund (Present Participle) FormDebiendo
Past Participle FormDebido
SynonymsTener que, necesitar

In Spanish, deber means ‘to owe’, ‘to have to’, ‘should’, or ‘to need to’. The conjugation charts below include only one translation to keep the tables as organized as possible. You can learn more about how to use ‘deber’ in the Uses & Meanings section. 

Indicative Conjugations of Deber

Present tense

Deber present tense conjugations refer to the things people must do or debts they owe. For example: ¿Cuánto dinero debes?

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoDeboI owe
DebesYou owe
Él / Ella
Usted
DebeHe/She owes
You (formal) owe
NosotrosDebemosWe owe
VosotrosDebéisYou owe
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
DebenThey owe
You (plural) owe

Preterite tense

Deber conjugation in the preterite tense refers to the things people owed or past obligations someone had to do. For instance: Por años, mis amigos me debieron mucho dinero. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoDebíI owed
DebisteYou owed
Él / Ella
Usted
DebióHe/She owed 
You (formal) owed
NosotrosDebimosWe owed
VosotrosDebisteisYou owed
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
DebieronThey owed 
You (plural) owed

Imperfect tense

In the Spanish imperfect past tense, this verb refers to the things people used to owe for a long period of time. For instance: ¿Por qué debías tanto dinero?

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoDebíaI owed
I used to owe
DebíasYou owed
You used to owe
Él / Ella
Usted
DebíaHe/She owed
He/She used to owe

You (formal) owed
You (formal) used to owe
NosotrosDebíamosWe owed
We used to owe
VosotrosDebíaisYou owed
You used to owe
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
DebíanThey owed
They used to owe

You (plural) owed
You (plural) used to owe

Near future

Deber’s near future forms are conjugated by using the present forms of ‘ir’ + a + deber. When using these conjugations, you’re expressing that a person is going to owe something soon in the future. For example: Si no pago, le voy a deber muchos intereses al banco.  

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoVoy a deberI’m going to owe
Vas a deberYou’re going to owe
Él / Ella
Usted
Va a deberHe/She is going to owe
You (formal) are going to owe
NosotrosVamos a deberWe’re going to owe
VosotrosVais a deberYou’re going to owe
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Van a deberThey’re going to owe
You (plural) are going to owe

Take Note: In this tense, it’s more common to use the verb tener to talk about obligations – van a tener que hablar con su papá (you’re going to have to talk to your dad). 

Future simple tense

Conjugate deber to the future simple tense to express future obligations or that someone will owe something. Ya no te deberé nada. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoDeberéI will owe
DeberásYou will owe
Él / Ella
Usted
DeberáHe/She will owe
You (formal) will owe
NosotrosDeberemosWe will owe
VosotrosDeberéisYou (formal) will owe
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
DeberánThey will owe
You (plural) will owe

Conditional tense

As shown in the deber conjugation chart below, this verb is regular when conjugated to the Spanish conditional tense. Use these forms to say that someone would owe something. For example: Si no compraras tantas cosas, no deberías tanto dinero. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoDeberíaI would owe
DeberíasYou would owe
Él / Ella
Usted
DeberíaHe/She would owe
You (formal) would owe
NosotrosDeberíamosWe would owe
VosotrosDeberíaisYou would owe
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
DeberíanThey would owe
You (plural) would owe

Present perfect tense

In Spanish, the present perfect is formed with present forms of haber + the past participle form of ‘deber’. These conjugations are used to say that someone has or hasn’t owed something. You can also use these forms to talk about the obligations someone has had in the past. 

For example: ¿Nunca han debido nada?

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHe debidoI have owed
Has debidoYou have owed
Él / Ella
Usted
Ha debidoHe/She has owed
You (formal) have owed
NosotrosHemos debidoWe have owed
VosotrosHabéis debidoYou have owed
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Han debidoThey have owed
You (plural) have owed

Past perfect

You can conjugate deber to the past perfect tense in Spanish to mention that someone had or hadn’t owed something before another past reference point. Nunca había debido tanto dinero. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHabía debidoI had owed
Habías debidoYou had owed
Él / Ella
Usted
Había debidoHe/She had owed
You (formal) had owed
NosotrosHabíamos debidoWe had owed
VosotrosHabíais debidoYou had owed
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Habían debidoThey had owed
You (plural) had owed

Future perfect

Conjugate deber to the future perfect tense to express that someone will have owed something by or before a specific future time frame. Additionally, these forms allow you to say that someone might have owed something. ¿Cuánto habrá debido Julián?

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHabré debidoI will have owed
Habrás debidoYou will have owed
Él / Ella
Usted
Habrá debidoHe/She will have owed
You (formal) will have owed
NosotrosHabremos debidoWe will have owed
VosotrosHabréis debidoYou will have owed
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Habrán debidoThey will have owed
You (plural) will have owed

Conditional perfect

In Spanish, the conditional perfect forms of deber express that someone would have owed something if a past circumstance had been met. Si no nos hubieras ayudado, no sé cuánto dinero le habríamos debido al banco. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHabría debidoI would have owed
Habrías debidoYou would have owed
Él / Ella
Usted
Habría debidoHe/She would have owed
You (formal) would have owed
NosotrosHabríamos debidoWe would have owed
VosotrosHabríais debidoYou would have owed
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Habrían debidoThey would have owed
You (plural) would have owed

Progressive tenses

The progressive forms of deber emphasize that a person owes something at the moment of speaking. Use estar indicative conjugations + the present participle form of ‘deber’ to form these tenses. Although the Spanish progressive tenses are frequently used in daily conversations, deber’s forms are not as common. 

Progressive TenseFormulaTranslation Example
PresentEstar (present) + debiendoI am owing
PreteriteEstar (preterite) + debiendoYou were owing
ImperfectEstar (imperfect) + debiendoHe was owing
FutureEstar (future) + debiendoWe will be owing
ConditionalEstar (conditional) + debiendoThey would be owing

Deber Subjunctive Conjugations

Use the subjunctive mood in Spanish to talk about someone’s hopes, expectations, demands, advice, doubts, or to present hypothetical situations. Below, you’ll find the deber conjugation charts for the most common subjunctive tenses. 

Present subjunctive

In the Spanish present subjunctive, deber is a regular verb. These subjunctive conjugations allow you to communicate hopes, advice, or requests regarding someone owing something. For instance: Espero que ya no le debas dinero a tu hermano. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoDebaI owe
DebasYou owe
Él / Ella
Usted
DebaHe/She owes
You (formal) owe
NosotrosDebamosWe owe
VosotrosDebáisYou owe
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
DebanThey owe
You (plural) owe

Present perfect subjunctive

In Spanish, the present perfect subjunctive is formed with haber (present subjunctive) + debido. These deber’s conjugations are used to express doubt, wishes, or wonder how much a person has owed. For example: ¿Crees que Julián le haya debido mucho dinero a Tom?

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHaya debidoI have owed
Hayas debidoYou have owed
Él / Ella
Usted
Haya debidoHe/She has owed
You (formal) have owed
NosotrosHayamos debidoWe have owed
VosotrosHayáis debidoYou have owed
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Hayan debidoThey have owed
You (plural) have owed

Imperfect subjunctive

The imperfect subjunctive conjugations of deber allow you to talk about past suggestions, demands, or hopes you had about someone owing something. For instance: Esperaba que ya no debiéramos tanto. 

Depending on  whether you speak Latin American or Castilian Spanish, the imperfect subjunctive tense has two conjugation models:

Latin American Spanish version

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoDebieraI owed
DebierasYou owed
Él / Ella
Usted
DebieraHe/She owed
You (formal) owed
NosotrosDebiéramosWe owed
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
DebieranThey owed
You (plural) owed

Note: Because the pronoun ‘vosotros’ is not used in Latin American Spanish, the deber conjugation for this pronoun hasn’t been included in the previous chart. 

Castilian Spanish version

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoDebieseI owed
DebiesesYou owed
Él / Ella
Usted
DebieseHe/She owed
You (formal) owed
NosotrosDebiésemosWe owed
VosotrosDebieseisYou owed
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
DebiesenThey owed
You (plural) owed

Past perfect subjunctive

When conjugated to the Spanish past perfect subjunctive, deber conveys that someone would have owed something if they had performed an action. For instance: Hubieran debido mucho dinero si hubieran comprado ese teléfono. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHubiera debidoI had owed
Hubieras debidoYou had owed
Él / Ella
Usted
Hubiera debidoHe/She had owed
You (formal) had owed
NosotrosHubiéramos debidoWe had owed
VosotrosHubierais debidoYou had owed
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Hubieran debidoThey had owed
You (plural) had owed

Deber Imperative Conjugations

The imperative mood is used to give commands in Spanish. Use the affirmative imperative to tell people what to do and the negative imperative to order them not to do something. 

Affirmative commands

Deber’s affirmative commands are not as common in this context because it’s uncommon to command people to be in debt or to owe something.

PersonConjugationTranslation
DebeOwe
UstedDebaOwe
VosotrosDebedOwe
UstedesDebanOwe

Take Note: To remind people what they must do, use the subjunctive conjugations. Niños, deben estudiar más.

Negative commands

However, you can use this verb’s negative imperative forms to strongly suggest people not to owe money (go into debt) or something else. For example: No deban lo que no tienen. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
No debesDon’t owe
UstedNo debaDon’t owe
VosotrosNo debáisDon’t owe
UstedesNo debanDon’t owe

Meanings of Deber & Examples

Now that we’ve reviewed how to conjugate deber in Spanish, you should check this section to learn how to use this verb. Depending on what you wish to convey and the parts of speech you use, deber means to:

  • Owe
  • Have to
  • Must (must have if combined with the verb haber
  • Should (should have if combined with the verb haber

[Deber conjugated] + [complement]

No debí haberles dicho nada. 
I shouldn’t have said anything to you. 

Oye, todavía me debes cien dólares. 
Hey, you still owe me one hundred dollars. 

Si quieres ser más sano, debes comer bien y hacer ejercicio. 
If you want to be healthier, you must eat well and exercise. 

Take Note: When talking about owing something to someone, you must use indirect object pronouns in Spanish. Also, notice that when expressing obligation, deber must be combined with an infinitive verb

Download Deber Conjugation Charts & Uses Cheat sheets

Deber is one of the most common and useful verbs to learn to become fluent in Spanish. So, I’ve created cheat sheets PDF you can download which includes all of the deber conjugation charts as well as its defintions and real-world examples so you can master conjugating and using this verb in your conversations.

Practice Quiz: Deber Conjugation

Now that you know how to conjugate deber, you can put your knowledge to the test by taking the deber conjugation practice quiz. It’s also a great way to practice conjugating Spanish -ER verbs.

Daniela Sanchez

¡Hola! Soy Daniela Sanchez, I've been studying Spanish professionally as well as teaching it in Mexico and online for over 10 years. I’ve taught Spanish to a wide array of foreigners from many backgrounds. Over the years, I've made it my mission to work hard on refining many challenging to understand grammar topics to make my students' learning experiences easier, faster and more enjoyable. Read More About Me

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