You shouldn't have...

Question

Which one of these sentences sounds best?

No debiste usar la bolsa rota. No se te habrían perdido las llaves.

(You shouldn’t have used the ripped purse. You would not have lost the keys.)

Or

No deberías haber usado la bolsa rota.

(Thank you all for continuing to help me on this subject.)

I would say use the second one - No deberías haber usado la bolsa rota. - margaretcorwin, Jun 4, 2011

Answer 1

If it's just going to be the normal difference between the preterite (debiste) and the imperfect (deberías) then I guess both will work in different situation.

Deberías is conditional tense. Debías is imperfect past.

No deberías usar la bolsa rota. You shouldn't use the broken bag.

No debiste usar la bolsa rota. You shouldn't have used the broken bag.

No deberías haber usado la bolsa rota. You shouldn't have used the broken bag.

The last one uses haber + conditional to access the past. The one above doesn't need it since it uses the preterite tense.

ah I'm such a dope, thanks Jeez :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jun 3, 2011

Thank you! I've been trying to determine 1) if you can use that preterite + infinitive to say "should have" and 2)) if it's common in conversation. You're the first to really address that. - MLucie, Jun 4, 2011

Answer 2

Ok my first answer was way off - comes from doing things in a rush - oopsie, thanks for catching it Jeezle.

Anwyay - is this more helpful? Deber

The tone of deber to express obligation can be softened by using the conditional form instead of the present tense, although the difference isn't always translatable. When telling someone what he or she should be doing, using the conditional can come across as more polite:

No deberías abrir un blog si vas a hablar de temas personales. You shouldn't start a blog if you're going to talk about personal subjects. La fuerza aerea debería comprar mejores aviones de combate. The air force should buy better combat planes.

Thanks Kiwi, but it's not the vocabulary I'm looking for. I am just trying to determine if that particular construction is used in everyday conversation. - MLucie, Jun 4, 2011

no worries, what I got from that info tho was that both are used but the conditional form is more polite, a little softer - maybe the preterite is closer to our 'you should'' quite straightforward & demanding and the conditional more polite, 'you could .. - Kiwi-Girl, Jun 4, 2011

Thanks! I appreciate your help. - MLucie, Jun 4, 2011

:) - Kiwi-Girl, Jun 5, 2011

Answer 3

En lugar de "rota", usaría yo la palabra "rasgada".

Sin embargo prefiero "No deberías haber usado la bolsa rasgada".

Answer 4

Thank you, Eddy! I would agree with you, on both counts: the choice of the word "rasgada" AND the "no deberías haber..." My problem is that I keep finding this other construction, the "no debiste usado" example. This sentence was, in fact, taken straight from an instructional website. I asked a native speaker about it this morning (a man from Mexico) and he told me that, of the two, he would definitely choose "no debiste" . So...I am confused.

You would still have to say "No debiste haber usado..." - margaretcorwin, Jun 4, 2011