"Debí hacerlo", "Tuve que hacerlo"
2
votes
If I want to express "I have no other option; I must do it/No tengo otra opción; debo hacerlo" in the past, is it ok if I write: "No tuve otra opcion; debí hacerlo," or is it imperative that I use "No tuve otra opcion; tuve que hacerlo"? I know that "must" is a modal verb that has no past form in modern English (that I know of), but I am a little unsure as to how to approach "deber". Any help would be greatly appreciated.
1902 views
updated Oct 2, 2011
posted by JsandersAmiga69
1 Answer
3
votes
For the first phrase, I think there would be a tendency to de-personalize the statement by using haber. However I think you are right to avoid deber in the second part. Even in English it would be hard to use must in the past in this way.
No había otra opción; tuve que hacerlo.
updated Oct 2, 2011
edited by Jeremias
posted by Jeremias
Gracias. :-) - JsandersAmiga69, Oct 1, 2011
