What does deber mean in the past tense?

Question

For instance, debo = I must, debería = I should (typically) but what about "No debí soñar". I shouldn't have dreamt? I know, must usually following with deber and should with debería but it seems different with the past? Gracias.

Answer 1

Perfect. "No debí soñar" or "No debí haber soñado".

Answer 2

From About.com

deber (to be obligated):

Preterite: Expresses the idea that something should have occurred. Luis debió salir. (Luis should have left.) In some contexts, deber or deber de in the preterite can also indicate a very strong likelihood. Example: Juan debió de salir or Juan debió salir (John must have left). Imperfect: Expresses the idea that something should occur. Luis debía salir. (Luis should leave.)

They have "debió salir" twice. One for Juan and one for Luis. One says "must have left" and the other says "should have left". These mean two entirely different things in English. - Tosh, May 17, 2011

muy bien kiwi-girl; gracias por este "link" acerca de "should have"! - t8805jg, Jan 3, 2015

Answer 3

Why do English explanations assume that Spanish verbs change their meaning depending on the tense used? The only thing that changes is how you translate these sentences in English, which uses auxiliaries where we use tenses.

No debí soñar -> Something I should not have done (past)

No debo soñar -> Something I should not do (present and future)

Because sometimes native speakers use different words rather than auxilliaries when Spanish uses the same word with different tenses. - lorenzo9, May 17, 2011

Answer 4

in the past tense it means owed.