Breakdown of Vous devriez laisser un pourboire sur la table.
un
a / an (masculine)
la table
the table
sur
on
vous
you (plural/formal)
devoir
to have to / must
laisser
to leave (something or someone)
le pourboire
the tip
Questions & Answers about Vous devriez laisser un pourboire sur la table.
Why do we use devriez here instead of devez?
Devez is the present tense and means "you must" or "you have to." Devriez is the conditional tense. In French, we use the conditional of devoir when giving advice or a suggestion, which translates perfectly to "you should" in English.
Why isn't the verb laisser conjugated?
In French, when you have two verbs back-to-back, the second verb stays in its infinitive (dictionary) form. Since devriez is already conjugated, laisser (to leave) is left unchanged.
Does the word pourboire literally mean "for drinking"?
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