Have to, may, must
Spanish splits 'have to' in two. Hay que + infinitive — necessary in general, for everyone and no one in particular: hay que reservar la habitación, hay que enseñar el pasaporte. It has no person and cannot have one: hay does not conjugate. Tener que + infinitive — necessary for a specific person, and the person is obligatory: tengo que hacer la maleta, tienes que llamar al hotel. English collapses both into 'you…
How it works
Spanish splits 'have to' in two. Hay que + infinitive — necessary in general, for everyone and no one in particular: hay que reservar la habitación, hay que enseñar el pasaporte. It has no person and cannot have one: hay does not conjugate. Tener que + infinitive — necessary for a specific person, and the person is obligatory: tengo que hacer la maleta, tienes que llamar al hotel. English collapses both into 'you have to…' and lets context do the rest; Spanish forces the choice.
Deber is duty of a different nature: not circumstances demanding, but conscience. Debes pedir perdón — 'you should apologize'. In everyday life it sounds stern and is rare. With a preposition, though, the verb changes its meaning entirely: deber de is not duty but conjecture — debe de estar en la playa, 'he is probably at the beach'.
Poder covers both 'can' and 'may'. No puedo abrir la maleta — I cannot; ¿puedo probarme esta falda? — asking permission. The line between 'I can't' and 'not allowed' runs along the person: no puedo is about me, no se puede is about everyone — that is already a ban.
All four constructions take the infinitive with no preposition between them — the only exception in this family being ir a. And a practical note: a polite request in Spain is almost always built as a question with poder, not as a command: ¿me puede traer la carta? instead of tráigame la carta.
Table
| construction | meaning | example |
|---|---|---|
| hay que | needed by all, no person | hay que reservar |
| tener que | I have to, here and now | tengo que salir |
| deber | should, out of conscience | debes decir la verdad |
| deber de | probably, a guess | debe de estar en casa |
| poder | can, may | ¿puedo pasar? |
By example
- Hay que enseñar el pasaporte en la fronteraYou have to show your passport at the border
- Tengo que estar en el aeropuerto a las seisI have to be at the airport at six
- ¿Puedo pedir el menú del día?May I order the set lunch?
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Have to, may, must: how does it work in Spanish?
Spanish splits 'have to' in two. Hay que + infinitive — necessary in general, for everyone and no one in particular: hay que reservar la habitación, hay que enseñar el pasaporte. It has no person and cannot have one: hay does not conjugate. Tener que + infinitive — necessary for a specific person…
What does it look like in an example sentence Spanish?
“Hay que enseñar el pasaporte en la frontera” — You have to show your passport at the border. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.