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In this lesson we will see how to express obligation in Spanish. Enjoy reading!

There are two types of obligations. The personal obligation refers to a specific person: I, you, we, etc.

The impersonal obligation is used when the subject is not stated: “it is necessary to”, etc.

I. The personal obligation

1. The different structures

To express personal obligation in English, we use the structure: MUST + infinitive verb Example: I must eat, you must study, he must work, etc.

In Spanish, there are three structures to translate personal obligation:

*DEBER + INFINITIVE

*TENER QUE + INFINITIVE

*HABER DE + INFINITIVE

Examples:

• A las ocho debo estar a mi trabajo ==> I have to be at work by eight o’clock.
• Tienes que cruzar la cuidad en bicicleta ==> You have to ride your bike across town.
• Ha de ir a casa de sus abuelos ==> He has to go to his grandparents’ house.

2. The anvil

When using a pronominal verb (e.g. ducharse, dormirse, cuidarse, conocerse, maquillarse, etc.), the reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) can be placed between the subject and the verb or at the end of the pronominal verb

• Tú te debes duchar OR Tu debes ducharte ==> You must shower.
• Tú te tienes que cuidar OR Tú tienes que cuidarte ==> You have to take care of yourself.
• Tú te has de dormir OR Tú has de dormirte ==> You need to sleep.

3. Other expressions

There are other ways of expressing personal obligation:

*ES PRECISO QUE + SUBJUNCTIVE
*ES MENESTER QUE + SUBJUNCTIVE
*ES NECESARIO QUE + SUBJUNCTIVE
*HACE FALTA QUE + SUBJUNCTIVE

Examples:

• Es preciso que los gobiernos cooperen ==> It is necessary that governments cooperate.
• Es menester que emprenda la exploración de Marte ==> It is necessary to undertake the exploration of Mars.
• Es necesario que lo digamos al doctor ==> We must tell the doctor.
• Hace falta que vayamos a la escuela ==> We must go to school.

BE CAREFUL: Make sure to respect the concordance of the tenses with the main preposition.

II. The impersonal obligation

1. Common structure

Impersonal obligation is used when the subject is not clearly stated. It is most often used to express general truths.

In English, impersonal obligation is most often expressed as HAVE TO + INFINITIVE (e.g.: I have to work to earn money, you have to sleep to be fit, etc.) or by more indirect structures like IT IS MANDATORY / IT IS NECESSARY TO + INFINITIVE. These different forms also exist in Spanish.

The most common form to express impersonal obligation is: HAY QUE + INFINITIVE

Examples:

• Hay que dibujar un retrato ==> You have to draw a portrait.
• Hay que estudiar mucho para conseguir trabajo ==> You have to study hard to find a job.
• Hay que conseguir una invitación al gala ==> You have to get an invitation to the gala.
• Hay que volver antes de los demás ==> You have to come back before the others.

2. Other forms

Here, we can use the same structures used previously to express personal obligation (es preciso, es menester, es necesario, hace falta.) In this case, they are not followed by QUE + subjunctive but simply by INFINITIVE:

Examples :

• Es menester comer saludable para tener energía ==> It is necessary to eat a balanced diet to have energy.
• Es preciso entrenar mucho para ganar un maratón ==> You have to train hard to win a marathon.
• Hace falta cortar la luz para cambiar una bombilla ==> You have to turn off the power to change a light bulb.

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