Some Idiomatic Spanish Expressions

¡Hola mis amigos!

In this lesson we look at some idiomatic Spanish expressions. We strat with the verbs deber (should or ought to), necesitar (to need), and the impersonal expressions hay que (one must) and es necesario (it is necessary). These are very useful for forming quick expressions when speaking in Spanish.

Here are some examples:

Deber (should, ought to)

Yo debo escribir las lecciones. (I should write the lessons.)
Tú debes leer las expresiones. (You should read the expressions.)
El debe estudiar español. (He should study Spanish.)
Nosotros debemos practicar diariamente. (We should practice daily.)
Ellos deben trabajar más. (They should work more.)

Necesitar (to need)

Yo necesito hablar en español. (I need to speak Spanish.)
Tú necesitas aprender los verbos. (You need to learn the verbs.)
Ella necesita comprar un diccionario. (She needs to buy a dictionary.)
Nosotros necesitamos aprender otro idioma. (We need to learn another language.)

Hay que (one must)

Hay que llegar a tiempo. (One must arrive on time.)
Hay que hacer la tarea. (One must do the homework.)
Hay que limpiar la casa. (One must clean the house.)

Es Necesario (it is necessary)

Es necesario comer todos los dias. (It is necessary eat every day.)
Es necesario caminar frecuentemente. (It is necessary to walk frequently.)
No es necesario bailar cada noche. (It is not necessary to dance every night.)

Note: Did you notice that these verbs are always followed by infinitives?

More Idiomatic Spanish Expressions

Es cierto (it's true)
No es cierto (it is not true)
Muy bien (very well)
Un poco de (a little bit of)
Nada de (nothing of)
A veces (sometimes)
Más o menos (more or less, so so)
Casi nunca (almost never)

You will of course be introduced to many other idiomatic Spanish expressions in the lesson to come.