Spanish Word of the Day: deber (2)

Yesterday was part one the verb deber; today part two.

As we all know deber means “to owe” or “to have to”. However, it might be possible that you’ve heard deberes a few times. In that case it’s a noun (masculine; el deber/los deberes) which means “duty”. It can also mean “homework” but that only exists in the plural form (los deberes).

Like pretty much always, the reflexive form of a verb (in this case deberse) has a slightly different meaning. Deberse mostly means “due to” or “to have a duty to”.

Sentences

¿Has hecho los deberes?
Have you done your homework?

Cumplió con su deber.
He carried out o did his duty.

Todo se debe a que no estudia.
It’s all due to the fact that she doesn’t study.

Se debió a un fallo humano.
It was due to human error.