|
Dice, que debéis
ir.
= He says you shall (should) go.
Dice, que tenéis
que ir.
= He says you have to go.
The second one is rather harsh. Either
the person really has something to do very
urgently or the host is trying to get rid
of him in a very direct manner.
Si alguien se desmaya
en la calle, se tiene que ayudarle.
= If somebody faints on the street, the person
has to be helped.
Si alguien se desmayó
en la calle, se debe ayudarle.
= If somebody faints on the street, the person
should be helped.
Well, probably a question of moral and
ethics and which street and which town we
are talking about. But in general I would
say - right, he should be helped.
Habría debido
decirme que no iba a venir.
= He should have told me that he doesn't
come.
Habría tenido
que decirme que no iba a venir.
= He had to have told me that he doesn't
come.
Here we meet morphology that is so terrible
in the second sentence that there is no
question which of the two sentences would
be used.
Me debe dejar en
paz, entonces yo le dejo en paz también.
= He should leave me in peace then I let
him in peace as well.
Tiene que dejarme
en paz, entonces yo le dejo en paz también.
= He has to leave me in peace then I let
him in peace as well.
Ok, now here it comes the other one has
a choice whether or not he leaves me in
peace. Therefore, he should do so but in the end
it's up to him.
Por mí no tienes
que hacerlo si no quieres.
= For me you do not have to do it if you
do not want it.
Por mí no debes hacerlo
si no quieres.
= For me you shouldn't do it if you don't
want it.
As we can see the meaning does change rather
than the degree of freedom of choice or
the level of politeness.
|