Haber de/ tener que/ deber/ deber de

Question

por favor me puede alquien explicar la diferencia entre:

HABER DE / TENER QUE / DEBER / DEBER DE:

He de estudiar mucho si quiero aprobar el examen. ( = tengo que o debo) Debería de estudiar mucho ......... quiere decir que se sería mejor que estudiara más ..........es una suposición en vez de debería que significa también la obligación de hacer algo?

y otra pregunta HABER DE puede también tener conjugaciones verbales como por ejemplo: Hubo de venir pronto ya que su madre se lo había dicho.

gracias

Debería usar las mayúsuclas, o los moderadores se pongan bien cranky. - deedeegill72, Sep 20, 2014

Answer 1

Tener que and Haber de are the same as per my understanding and are equal to the English expression "to have to do some thing"

For example ... Tengo que estudir mas para aproabar el examen or He de estudiar mas para aprobar el examen ...

Deber is similar and is equal to the English "Must do some thing" .. In many contexts they can be used interchangeable with only a slight difference in the meaning..

For example .. I can also say .. Debo estudiar mas para aprobar el examen ,, in this context all of the above mean almost the same..

In some other contexts there may be a very slight difference in the meaning ..

For example .. Debes saladar las deudas cuanto antes para vivir tranquilamente. (Now this just a suggestion I am giving to my friend ).

On the other hand ... Ud. Tiene que pagar sus abonos pendientes de hipoteca para que no pierda su casa. (Now this on the other hand is a compulsion, A bank collections agent is calling and telling the client that you have to pay the outstanding mortgage payments so you don't lose your house) ..

But in most cases they can be used interchangeable with just a slight difference in the meaning ..

Hope it helps.

And haber de is used less frequently so you might be better sticking with "tener que" and deber - 00b055e0, Sep 19, 2014

I just noticed that your lever in English is intermediate as per your profile so I hope you understand my explanation but if you face any difficulty understanding anything let me know so I could write it over again in Spanish - 00b055e0, Sep 19, 2014

me acabo de dar cuenta que tu nivel de ingles es intermedio y espero que no vaya a tener ningunos problemas entendiendo mi respuesta que he escrito en ingles para que otros puedan entenderlo mejor - 00b055e0, Sep 19, 2014

level** typo - 00b055e0, Sep 19, 2014

Welcome - 00b055e0, Sep 19, 2014

no te preocupes lo he entedido bien:) - 00b815ee, Sep 19, 2014

Bueno :) - 00b055e0, Sep 20, 2014

Answer 2

That's funny, I have a language exchange partner in Spain that helps me with my Spanish and vice versa and I covered this exact same question today during our session.

Simply put, this is what I was told.

In order of "strength" it's tener + que, deber and then debería.

Tener + que = Have to, need to. It's something that is required of you or needs to be done such as in your example, you need to study if you want to pass the test so it's tener + que to express that sentiment.

Deber = "Must" but it's used more for things that we don't want to do and we don't need to do but you kind of have to anyway. Like

"I have to go see my mother in law in the hospital"

... was the example he used lol. As he stated "It's something you need to do because it's just courtesy and your wife will be upset if you don't, but it's not something that you HAVE to do and it's something you're not really wanting to do."

Debería - Should, a conditional but not imperative that you do like with tener + que.

I should really start eating better.

There you use debería. You should, and it would be better for you to do so, but you don't HAVE to do it.

As for haber de he said don't even bother with that one. It's old fashioned, it's mainly seen in literature or formal writing and that no one uses it.

All this may be different in Latin America, but that's what I got from him

:) thanks for your answer - 00b815ee, Sep 19, 2014