Tense in subordinate dependent clause
I had to translate to following sentence to Spanish.
"The doctor told me that I must not eat so much."
I translated:
El doctor me dijo que no debo comer tanto.
However, the reported correct translation was:
El doctor me dijo que no debía comer tanto
What makes that the subordinate dependent clause is written with 'deber' in the imperfect tense and not in the present tense like in English? Will the tense of the subordinate dependent clause adapt to the independent clause? Who can explain this use of the imperfect-past?
3 Answers
For your example I can't put my finger on a set rule but I do agree no debía sounds better than the present tense (having said that, in reported speech other tenses are possible after a past tense verb in the governing clause, including the present, conditional, future tense etc).
I'm not a native speaker so do wait for another opinion but this is my take ...
Debía is more for saying that something generally shouldn't be done whereas the present sounds like a one off event at that present moment.
The doctor told me that I shouldn't/mustn't (no debía) eat so much. (generally)
The doctor told me that I must not (no debo) eat the cupcake from the fridge. (one off present event)
Hello, sorry for my english.
Both sentences are right, all depends of sense you want to send.
the first option: "no debo" explain that i must not eat rigth now,
the second option "no debía" explain the same but in any time (the action time is not define), the name of this verb form is "pretérito imperfecto"
you can red more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperfect
I agree completely with Kiwi-Girl.
I would like to add to her first option:
The doctor told me that I didn't have to eat so much (no debía)
