You should be quick with my sandwich

Question

Can you say "Ustedes deberían estar rápido con mi sándwich" or would I have to use a different would than "be" here. Can you use "to be" in the same here as you can in English?

• I joke with my friends like this, I would never say this a waiter. I am waiter so I know what we do when you anger us. Be nice to waiters. - jeezzle Mar 21, 2010

Answer 1

You would simply say something like: "por favor, apúrese con my sandwich" and give some extra information like:..."que estoy apurado, que tengo que regresar a trabajar, que no dispongo de mucho tiempo....." something that support your request.

It's not advisable to use "should" because sounds like a command or complaint.

• I am wanting to be rude to friend when I say the above, not polite to a waiter. - jeezzle Mar 21, 2010

Answer 2

The formal tone is sometimes referred to as the polite form. The tone that you would use in "polite" society (on formal occasions rather than casual conversation). As such I wouldn't use the "polite" tone in your sentence as your sentence comes across as being quite rude.

• What if I wanted to be rude but seem polite? - jeezzle Mar 21, 2010
• sarcastic? - qfreed Mar 21, 2010
• yeah you know just joking around like with a friend. - jeezzle Mar 21, 2010

Answer 3

I am not a native speaker, but I would say "Ustedes necesitan ser rápidos con mi sandwich" because "should" doesn't really translate to "deber". Even though it is often taught that way for simplicity, there isn't really a direct translation for "should" the way English speakers use it. When living in Mexico, I was taught that "deber" has a meaning closer to "you are obligated to do this", which is not exactly what we mean when we say should. For example, when giving advice, a native speaker would never say "Pienso que deberías hacer esto...". Therefore, I would just use necesitar to get the meaning across which you are trying to see.

As a disclaimer, althought experienced, I am not a native speaker, so maybe someone else can help answer this. But this is how I personally would make this statement

• Weird. I always heard deber was must and debería was should. - jeezzle Mar 21, 2010
• Were you told this in a class or by a native speaker? I only ask because often times aspects of a language can be taught differently in a classroom than how they are used in real life - d32789 Mar 21, 2010
• It might also help to have a native speaker give their opinion on the question. This is just how I would make the phrase based on my past experiences. - d32789 Mar 21, 2010
• My friend Maria, I haven't taken any classical classes. - jeezzle Mar 21, 2010