A translation using "were"

Question

I'm translating the following sentence from English. Would this be correct?

"Could you explain to me what the obligation you were to carry out was?" (In this case obligation refers to a promise, commitment to do something)

"¿Me prodría explicar cuál era la obligación que debiera haber realizado?"

Gracias de antemano.

Welcome to the forum, :) - 00494d19, Jun 29, 2011

Answer 1

"¿Me podría explicar cuál era la obligación que tenía que hacer/realizar?

These are great suggestions. Some of which I should had known. Thnx for jogging my memory. - hispanophile1, Jun 30, 2011

Answer 2

I remember in Spanish class we learned that "haber + de" is how you translate obligations like "I'm to" and "you were to." Using that expression would render:

¿Me podría explicar cuál era la obligación que había de llevar a cabo?

Besides the other translations of "you," you could also have "¿Podría explicarme..." if you wanted.

I had forgotten about this expression. Thanks for the suggestion, this fits perfectly. - hispanophile1, Jun 30, 2011

Answer 3

I will remind you that tener que = haber de, right?