Tener que, deber or hay que? The chart
Tener que and deber both have a person: tengo que, debes, deberíamos. Hay que has none — it says what has to be done, not who has to do it, which is why English renders it with a general you or one.
Tener que is the everyday have to; deber is a little more formal and leans towards duty — rules, signs, advice. Its conditional, debería, is the polite should, and the form English speakers reach for least.
| Spanish | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| tener que | have to | Tengo que trabajar el sábado. — I have to work on Saturday. |
| deber | must | Debes llevar el pasaporte. — You must carry your passport. |
| debería | should | Deberías llamarla. — You should call her. |
| hay que | you have to, it's necessary | Hay que reservar mesa. — You have to book a table. |
| deber de | must (a guess) | Debe de ser tarde. — It must be late. |
Hay que has no person
Because hay que is impersonal, it only exists in the third person singular — hay, había, hubo, habrá, habría que — and it takes no subject: the guests have to wait is los invitados tienen que esperar, never los invitados hay que esperar.
The academies flag a slip native speakers make too: a reflexive verb after hay que cannot carry a personal pronoun. Hay que esforzarse, not hay que esforzarnos. To include yourself, switch to tener que: tenemos que esforzarnos.
| Right | Not right |
|---|---|
| Hay que esforzarse. | Hay que esforzarnos. |
| Los invitados tienen que esperar. | Los invitados hay que esperar. |
| Había que salir pronto. | Habían que salir pronto. |
| Habrá que esperar. | Habrán que esperar. |
Deber or deber de?
English must does two jobs — you must stop (a duty) and you must be tired (a guess) — and Spanish prefers a different form for each. Deber + infinitive leans to the duty: debes descansar. Deber de + infinitive leans to the guess: debe de estar cansado. Tener que does the guessing job too: tiene que ser increíble.
The academies note that educated speakers cross the line both ways — debe estar cansado for a guess is widespread, and deber de for a duty turns up, much less often. So neither is wrong; the split above is simply the safe one, and the quiz never asks you to choose between them.
| Spanish | Meaning | English |
|---|---|---|
| Debes estudiar más. | a duty | You must study more. |
| Debe de tener treinta años. | a guess | He must be about thirty. |
| Deben de estar en casa. | a guess | They must be at home. |
| Tiene que ser increíble. | a guess | It must be amazing. |
Mustn't or don't have to?
This is where a wrong choice changes the meaning, not just the tone. No debes means it is forbidden or a bad idea; no tienes que means it is not necessary. A sign that says no se debe fumar forbids smoking; a friend who says no tienes que venir is letting you off.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| No debes tocarlo. | You mustn't touch it. |
| No tienes que tocarlo. | You don't have to touch it. |
| No debes decírselo. | You mustn't tell him. |
| No tienes que decírselo. | You don't have to tell him. |
| No hay que pagar. | You don't have to pay (it's free). |
What about haber de?
Haber de + infinitive is the formal cousin of tener que: he de reconocer que tenía razón — I have to admit she was right. The academies list it as the general-Spanish equivalent of tener que, the form preferred in everyday speech. It can also mark a strong guess (ha de estar cansada) or a plain future.
Two more forms are worth recognizing and not using: tener de, the medieval version of tener que, rare today; and debrá or debría for deberá and debería, short forms the academies call vulgar now.
Why do English speakers mix them up?
Because English must covers both a duty and a guess, should is a separate word with nothing to hint at the conditional debería, and have to sounds like a direct match for hay que. The slips follow: hay que with a person (los alumnos hay que estudiar), and no debes where no tienes que was meant — which turns you don't have to into you mustn't.
There is no first-party error rate on this page yet: our mistake tagger counts ser vs estar, por vs para, the tenses and the object pronouns, not verbs of obligation. When it does, the number will sit here. Until then the quiz is the measure.
What comes after tener que?
Hay vs está is the other job hay does — there is, there are. The subjunctive is the next step for an obligation with a person inside it: es necesario que vengas. The future tense has the other way to guess: serán las ocho, for deben de ser las ocho. Ser vs estar is the other pair English says with one verb. The free Spanish level test places you on the A1–C2 scale in five minutes; A2 vs B1 Spanish says what changes after the first levels.