Should: Deber, Conditional VS Present

Question

I'll try to make this quick...

I have seen phrases like this:

iPhone 5 debe llegar a las tiendas europeas el día 15 de octubre.

Mandé el paquete y debe llegar el 6 de marzo antes de las 13:30 (antes de la 1:30 de la tarde if in Latin America).

And then I find some that use the conditional, but seem to have the same meaning... "should arrive":

Le debería llegar dentro de tres o cuatro días después de pedirlo...

---

Now, should the last one say "debe llegar" as well, or do you have a little bit freedom here?

I thought that "debería" expresses more of a possibility... So, could any of the first examples use "debería" instead of "debe"?

I like your question. - annierats, Oct 29, 2011

Thanks =) - NikkiLR, Oct 29, 2011

Answer 1

Hi! ¨debería llegar¨¨or ¨debe llegar¨are interchangeable, at least for me.

I like your new nickname

In Spanish I believe you but not in English. - ian-hill, Oct 31, 2011

Yes, so do I. - annierats, Oct 31, 2011

In Englsih, this is SHOULD. Would is not the same, here. As for Spanish, I leave you too the experts. - annierats, Oct 31, 2011

Thank you! - NikkiLR, Oct 31, 2011

Answer 2

debería = You should (advice)

debe = You must (obligation)

Correct, but in Englsih we can only say SHOULD in this context. Must is not rally enforceable. - annierats, Oct 31, 2011

true I would think that the conditional fits better, as you say, debe / must or has to doesn't really work - Kiwi-Girl, Oct 31, 2011

although it seems from Cafe's comments that in Spanish they're often seen as interchangeable so perhaps it's not just a matter of such a straight forward translation as should vs must - another subject for the list of 'to be investigated' je je - Kiwi-Girl, Oct 31, 2011

Answer 3

Frankly, given the worldwide problems with making deliveries on time, I should remain hopeful and use whichever expression takes your fancy.. It will not affect the result (delays, normally).

Jajaja... nice =D So, in this case, it doesn't really matter (grammatically) which one you use? - NikkiLR, Oct 29, 2011

That's what I think. But obviously if you're promising to deliver on time, they could sue you if you don't! - annierats, Oct 29, 2011

One cannot say "It must arrive " in English because that implies an obligation on the iphone. - ian-hill, Oct 31, 2011

Yes, but we're talking about the Spanish version. In English it is SHOULD, without a doubt. - annierats, Oct 31, 2011

Yes... =) - NikkiLR, Oct 31, 2011

Answer 4

I think that this is hard to translate into English because of our uses of 'Should" and "would". When using deber to express a package arriving (as in your above examples), I would think that using presente (debe) indicates more a simplistic necessity. The conditional (debería), however conveys more of an understanding that something could go wrong and the package might not make it within the necessary amount of time. Therefore, when sending a package overseas, I would use the conditional. Please let me know if I am way off.

I agree with you. There is uncertainty about the arrival.. - annierats, Oct 31, 2011

Hmmm.... that does make sense =D Thanks! - NikkiLR, Oct 31, 2011

Answer 5

debe llegar = must arrive.

The phone should arrive soon. - El teléfono debería llegar pronto. - is not conditional in English

Okay, but wouldn't we say... "The iPhone should arrive in stores by..." ? - NikkiLR, Oct 29, 2011

If we said' might arrive' it would sound bad, but be truthful.. - annierats, Oct 29, 2011

I'm trying to say that I don't think anyone would say "it must arrive on this date"... You would say "it should arrive on this date" --- So in Spanish can you use either one in this case? - NikkiLR, Oct 29, 2011

Ian is right, it's just not a straight translation.. - annierats, Oct 31, 2011

Answer 6

I'm going to bump this up...

Thanks for the answers everyone =) but I know the uses for "deber"... I am just wondering about the use in the example I gave.

I have seen both "debe llegar" and "debería llegar" for "should arrive"... are they interchangeable in any of the examples I gave above?