If you haven’t seen the video already, watch it now:
Where’s Sarah?
- She had to go to the doctor
- She should have gone to the doctor
- She must have gone to the doctor
The problem with these three sentences above is that in Spanish they are often translated with ‘tener’:
- “Tuvo que ir”
- “Tenía que haber ido”
- Tiene que / Debe haber ido”
She had to go to the doctor
Remember this is not a Modal – ‘had’ is the past of ‘have/has’. Modals do not change form (nor use ‘to’)
Easy – Sarah needed to go to the doctor and so she went. Tuvo que ir (y fue)
In negative: ‘I didn’t have to work yesterday’ – it wasn’t necessary, so I didn’t do it. No tuve que hacerlo, no era necesario.
She should have gone to the doctor
Sarah didn’t go to the doctor, which was a bad idea. Now she’s very ill. Debería/Tenía que haber ido (pero no fue).
In negative: ‘You shouldn’t have said that’ – you did something that was a bad idea. No deberías/tenías que haber dicho eso.
She must have gone to the doctor
This is the most difficult to explain. It comes from the second meaning of ‘must’, not as obligation but as a supposition: ‘It must be very cold on Everest’ Debe hacer mucho frío…(Supongo)
‘Must have’ is supposing something in the past: I suppose/I’m sure she went to the doctor. Debe haber ido al medico, porque ayer ya estaba malita, entonces supongo…
In negative, we use ‘can’t have’:
“David must have arrived at the airport by now. It only takes two hours.” Debe haber/Tenía que haber llegado al aeropuerto ya. Sólo lleva dos horas
“No, he can’t have arrived yet. There is a lot of traffic and roadworks. It will have taken him longer.” No puede haber llegado aún. Hay mucho trafico y obras. Le habrá llevado más tiempo.
