Modern Spanish Grammar: A Practical Guide

46.2 Enquiring whether one is obliged to do something To enquire whether one is obliged to do something, Spanish normally uses t ...

Nos vimos en la obligación de despedirla. We were forced to dismiss her. Tienes la obligación de cuidar de ellos. You are under ...

47 Expressing needs This chapter deals with different ways of expressing needs. In the sections below you will learn to express ...

No necesitan volver. You don’t need to come back.
^26 (p. 131) 47.1.3 Necesitar+ subjunctive This construction is used when th ...

Lo/la necesita. He/she needs you. Necesitamos ese préstamo. We need that loan. 47.2 Asking people about their needs Most of the ...

¿Por qué lo necesitan? Why do you/they need it? 47.3 Expressing needs in an impersonal way To ask and answer questions about nee ...

Te serviré algo de comer. I’ll give you something to eat. No hace falta, no te molestes. It’s not necessary, don’t bother. 47.3. ...

47.3.5 Ser necesario+ infinitive Ser necesario, ‘to be necessary’, is less common than hay que+ infinitive or hacer falta + infi ...

48 Expressing possibility and probability The concepts of possibility and probability are expressed in Spanish in a number of wa ...

¿Estarán en casa en este momento? – Sí, es posible/probable. Will they be at home now? – Yes, it is possible./Maybe./Probably. ¿ ...

Es imposible que podamos reunirlos a todos. It is impossible for us to gather them all. Es muy improbable que lo consigamos. It’ ...

Puede (ser) que no nos hayan oído. They may not have heard us. 48.1.6 Quizá(s)/tal vez/posiblemente/probablemente/acaso+ subjunc ...

Acaso sea él quien lo hizo. Perhaps it was him who did it. Acaso tengamos que recordárselo. Perhaps we may have to remind him/he ...

If reference is to the past, deber (de) must be followed by haber and a past participle. Deben (de) haber regresado ya. They mus ...

Ya se han enterado. They have found out already. Ya se habrán enterado. They must have found out already. Has oído lo que pasó. ...

48.1.14 Other ways of expressing possibility and impossibility Possibility and impossibility can also be conveyed through expres ...

¿Se podría recuperar el dinero? Could one recover the money? ¿Qué se podría hacer? What could one do?
 21.1 (p. 99); 23.7 (p. ...

49 Expressing certainty and uncertainty The concepts of certainty and uncertainty can be expressed in Spanish in a number of way ...

¿Estás seguro/a? Are you sure? Sí, estoy (completamente/totalmente) seguro/a. Yes, I’m (absolutely) sure. Estoy convencido/a de ...

Tendrá mucho éxito. He/she will be very successful. Aprobarás el examen. You will pass the examination. No llegarán allí a tiemp ...