📖LearnModule 12 · Lesson 10 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, completedUnit 2 · Las perífrasis verbales
Tener que, haber de, deber de
Module 12 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C1, completed), lesson 10 of 30: Obligation has three temperatures. On this page: 9 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
tengo que irme
I have to go
TEHN-goh keh EER-meh
he de reconocer que
I must admit that (formal)
eh deh rreh-koh-noh-SEHR keh
debe de ser tarde
it must be late (I suppose)
DEH-beh deh sehr TAR-deh
debe ser puntual
she must be punctual (duty)
DEH-beh sehr poon-TWAHL
hay que esperar
one has to wait
eye keh ehs-peh-RAR
la obligación
the obligation
lah oh-blee-gah-SYOHN
la conjetura
the conjecture
lah kohn-heh-TOO-rah
probablemente
probably
proh-bah-bleh-MEHN-teh
yo he de reconocer mi error
I must admit my mistake
yoh eh deh rreh-koh-noh-SEHR mee eh-RROHR
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
Obligation has three temperatures. Tener que is the everyday must: tengo que irme. Haber de is its formal, slightly old-fashioned twin: he de reconocer que… (I must admit that). Hay que is obligation with no one obliged: hay que esperar.
Y también · And also
Deber de is not obligation at all but conjecture: debe de ser tarde (it must be late — I suppose). Without de, deber is duty: debe ser puntual (she must be punctual). Careful writers keep the two apart; careful readers watch for the de.
Ojo · Watch out
debe DE ser tarde is a guess; debe ser puntual is a duty. The de is the difference, and even native writers blur it — you should not. he de is formal and rare in speech; tengo que is what people say.
haber de, presente — the table
yo he de · tú has de · él/ella/usted ha de · nosotros hemos de · ustedes han de · ellos/ellas han de
Do it now — on paper
Say all 9 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with tengo que irme.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out haber de, presente in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.