Today, in class, some classmates of mine were talking about the grammatical structures hay que…, tiene(s) que… and debe(s)… Somehow, none of them could give a good answer and they were looking in the grammar book they (yeah, not me!) love to work with. I knew the answer. Don’t ask me why, but I simply know when it’s used and what the main differences are. I never read about it in a grammar book, but simply know it from raw input (pretty weird, as it can be hard to see the difference between the twee forms, especially between hay que and tiene(s) que). This was the explanation I gave them:
All three forms mean “you have to”. However, there is a big difference. Just look:
- Hay que luchar por los derechos humanos – You/they/everybody has to fight for human rights (it’s in general, you don’t direct it to someone).
- Tienes que luchar por los derechos humanos – You OR everybody has to fight for human rights (it can be both specific or said in general).
- (Usted) Tiene que luchar por los derechos humanos – You have to fight for human rights (YOU have to fight).
- Debes luchar por los derechos humanos – YOU (specific) have to fight for human rights.
Here you go, with hay que and tienes que you’re talking in general, but with tiene(s) que and debe(s) que you’re saying YOU have to do it. It’s simple as that.
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
If I am not mistaken, don't you also use deber to say “you should” do something…like advising someone to do something?
From my understanding of it, “hay que” would be translated to something more along the lines of “it is necessary to” (in general), “tienes que” as “you have to” and “debe que”, as stated above, to “you should.”
This was very enlightening! Thanks!
this is awsome i love to learn spanish
Uf, you're right Jade; really big mistake! Well, it's not only incorrect in this context, it doesn't even exist
. So thanks for pointing it out.
@Tiffany;
That would be debería I guess.
@Montgomery: It's necessary, but not in a conditional. Tienes que and debes (debe(s) que doesn't exist) aren't you should. In that case you use the condicional (debería(s)).
I think “Deber que” is totally incorrect, at least in Spain, I see you said in your commet it doesnt exist, but you currently wrote it at the beginning of the post.
Debes ir: You must go
Tienes que ir: You have to go
Hay que ir: I / We have to go. This last “Haber + que” form is an impersonal way of using the verb “haber” so there's no subject for the sentence. I dont know how to translate it to English, if it's possible, but the meaning is the same than in “to have” but using impersonal form. It's sometime/usually used in a context where the speaker doesn't want to do something (like to go) and speaks with a little of resignation
You can check also expressions like: “Hay que joderse”, “Hay que ver”, …
I'm confused. Ramses, what do you mean by “it's necessary, but not in a conditional”?
What I mean is that “debes” means “you have to (you must)” and “deberías” is used for “you should”.