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deber

Spanish, noun/deˈbeɾ/

deber is a Spanish masculine noun meaning “obligation, duty” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) defines it as “Algo a que uno esta obligado”.

What does deber mean in English?

verb

  1. 1

    to owe

    Le debo dinero al banco.

  2. 2

    Latin-Americacolloquialmust, need to, have to (indicates an obligation or requirement)

    Debo estudiar.

  3. 3

    must (used to indicate that something is likely)

    Juan no me contesta las llamadas, debe de estar en clase.

  4. 4

    should (indicating opinion or expectation)

    La gente no debería mensajear y conducir.

  5. 5

    Latin-Americacolloquialshould have

    Debiste esperarme.

  6. 6

    should have

    Lo primero que deberías haber hecho es ir al médico.

  7. 7

    Latin-Americacolloquialwill need to

  8. 8

    to be due to, to be attributable to, to be the result of, to be caused by

    El incendio se debió a un cortocircuito.

noun

  1. 1

    masculineobligation, duty

  2. 2

    masculinedebt

  3. 3

    masculineshould, ought (modal noun)

  4. 4

    Spainmasculinehomework

Source: English Wiktionary, Spanish section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How Spanish dictionaries define it

verb: 1. (seguido del infinitivo) Estar o verse obligado de hacer algo.

verb: 1. Tener obligaciones o deudas con alguien. 2. Adquirir un compromiso de pago. 3. Estimar que ocurra algún evento.

noun: 1. Algo a que uno esta obligado. 2. Deuda. 3. Tarea.

The definition in the Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), in Spanish.

Source: Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.

Forms of deber

  • debo first-person present singular
  • debí first-person preterite singular
  • debido participle past
  • debiendo gerund
  • debida feminine participle past
  • debidos masculine participle past
  • debidas feminine participle past
  • debes indicative informal present
  • debés indicative informal present
  • debe indicative present singular
  • debemos first-person indicative plural
  • debéis indicative plural present
  • deben indicative plural present
  • debía first-person imperfect indicative
  • debías imperfect indicative second-person
  • debíamos first-person imperfect indicative
  • debíais imperfect indicative plural
  • debían imperfect indicative plural

Source: English Wiktionary and Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).

How do you pronounce deber?

  • /deˈbeɾ/
  • [d̪eˈβ̞eɾ]

Sources: English Wiktionary, Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.

English words that translate to deber

Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.

How common is deber in Spanish?

deber appears 26 times per million words in written Spanish.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).