Learn Hardcore Russian: Новая грамматическая тема: прошедшее время с «должен был / должна была / должны были». - New grammar topic: the past tense with “должен был / должна была / должны были.”

Новая грамматическая тема: прошедшее время с «должен был / должна была / должны были».

New grammar topic: the past tense with “должен был / должна была / должны были.”

Breakdown of Новая грамматическая тема: прошедшее время с «должен был / должна была / должны были».

должен был / должна была / должны были

should (past)

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Questions & Answers about Новая грамматическая тема: прошедшее время с «должен был / должна была / должны были».

What does the construction должен был / должна была / должны были express in general?

It’s the usual way to talk about obligation or necessity in the past.
Roughly, it corresponds to English “had to” or “was supposed to”:

Я должен был уйти. – I had to leave / I was supposed to leave.
Она должна была позвонить. – She had to call / She was supposed to call.
Мы должны были встретиться. – We were supposed to meet / We had to meet.

So it expresses that, at some moment in the past, there was a duty, plan, or strong expectation to do something.

Why are there different forms должен был / должна была / должны были, and how do I choose?

These forms agree with the gender and number of the subject:

должен был – masculine singular
- Я должен был уйти. – I (male) had to leave.
- Он должен был уйти. – He had to leave.
должна была – feminine singular
- Я должна была уйти. – I (female) had to leave.
- Она должна была уйти. – She had to leave.
должны были – plural (any gender mix)
- Мы должны были уйти. – We had to leave.
- Они должны были уйти. – They had to leave.

So you choose the form exactly the way you choose он / она / они etc.: by who is doing the action.

Is there also a neuter form in the past, and when would I use it?

Yes: должно было (neuter singular). It is used mostly in impersonal or neuter-subject sentences:

Это должно было случиться. – It had to happen / It was bound to happen.
Письмо должно было прийти вчера. – The letter was supposed to arrive yesterday.

You use должно было when the subject is это, a neuter noun, or when the whole situation is treated impersonally.

How do I form this for all persons (I, you, he, we, etc.)?

The pattern is simple:

[subject in nominative] + должен/должна/должны + был/была/были + infinitive

Examples:

Я должен был работать. – I (male) had to work.
Я должна была работать. – I (female) had to work.
Ты должен был уйти. – You (male, sg.) had to leave.
Ты должна была уйти. – You (female, sg.) had to leave.
Он должен был платить. – He had to pay.
Она должна была платить. – She had to pay.
Мы должны были ждать. – We had to wait.
Вы должны были прийти раньше. – You (pl./formal) had to come earlier.
Они должны были помочь. – They had to help.

Notice that должен / должна / должны only change for gender/number, not for person.
The был / была / было / были part carries the past-tense marking.

What’s the difference between должен (present) and должен был (past)?

должен / должна / должны + infinitive → present or future obligation:
- Я должен уйти. – I have to leave (now / soon).
должен был / должна была / должны были + infinitive → past obligation:
- Я должен был уйти. – I had to leave / I was supposed to leave.

Grammatically, you’re just putting быть (to be) into the past (был / была / было / были) to make the whole “obligation” idea refer to the past.

Does должен был mean “had to (and did)” or “was supposed to (but maybe didn’t)”? How do I show the difference?

By itself, должен был is ambiguous, just like English was supposed to:

Я должен был уйти.
Could mean:
- I had to leave (and I did)
- I was supposed to leave (but maybe I didn’t)

To make it clear:

Obligation fulfilled (you did it):
- Я должен был уйти и ушёл. – I had to leave, and I did.
- Я должен был позвонить, и я позвонил. – I had to call, and I called.
Obligation NOT fulfilled (you didn’t do it):
- Я должен был уйти, но не ушёл. – I was supposed to leave, but I didn’t.
- Он должен был позвонить, но так и не позвонил. – He was supposed to call, but he never did.

So context (and often но… with a contrasting clause) shows which meaning you intend.

How does verb aspect work after должен был? What’s the difference between сделать and делать here?

Exactly the same aspect rules apply as in other Russian sentences:

Perfective infinitive after должен был → one-time, completed result, deadline, or single event.
- Я должен был сделать домашнее задание.
  – I had to do (finish) my homework.
Imperfective infinitive after должен был → process, repeated / habitual obligation, or “to be doing” something.
- Я должен был делать домашнее задание каждый день.
  – I had to do homework every day. (regular duty)
- Он должен был работать вечером.
  – He was supposed to be working in the evening. (focus on the activity, not its completion)

So you choose the aspect based on whether you see the action as a single completed task (perfective) or ongoing / repeated activity (imperfective).

How do I make the sentence negative? And what’s the difference between я не должен был это делать and мне не нужно было это делать?

Negation with “должен был”:
- Я не должен был это делать.
  Literally: I was not supposed to do this.
  This can mean either:
  - There was no obligation to do it (I didn’t have to), or
  - It was forbidden / wrong (I shouldn’t have).
Context decides which nuance is stronger.
To clearly say “I didn’t have to do it” (no necessity):
Use нужно or надо in the past:
- Мне не нужно было это делать. – I didn’t need to do this / I didn’t have to do this.
- Мне не надо было это делать. – same meaning, very colloquial.
To clearly say “I shouldn’t have done it (it was wrong, but I did)”:
Russian often uses the same structure plus clarifying context or adverbs:
- Я не должен был этого делать, но всё-таки сделал.
  – I shouldn’t have done it, but I did anyway.
- Я вообще не должен был этого делать.
  – I really shouldn’t have done that at all.

So:

не должен был – ambiguous: “no obligation” or “shouldn’t”.
не нужно было / не надо было – much more clearly “no need / no necessity”.

What’s the difference between я должен был and мне пришлось? Both can look like “I had to”.

Both can translate as “I had to”, but the nuance is different:

Я должен был + infinitive
– focuses on duty / obligation / expectation (rules, plans, promises, someone told you to, etc.).
- Я должен был уйти в шесть. – I was supposed to leave at six.
Мне пришлось + infinitive
– focuses on being forced by circumstances, often unwillingly or unexpectedly.
- Мне пришлось уйти в шесть. – I (ended up) having to leave at six / I was forced to leave at six.

So должен был is about what you were supposed to do,
and пришлось is about what reality forced you to do.

Can I say я был должен instead of я должен был? Is there any difference?

Yes, both are grammatically correct:

Я должен был уйти.
Я был должен уйти.

In modern spoken Russian, “должен был” is much more common and neutral.
“был должен” sounds a bit more formal, bookish, or old-fashioned, and may slightly emphasize the state of obligation itself.

In everyday speech, it’s safest to stick with [subject] + должен/должна/должны + был/была/были + infinitive:

Мы должны были встретиться. – We were supposed to meet.

Where does the infinitive usually go in sentences with должен был? Is the word order fixed?

The basic and most common order is:

[subject] + должен/должна/должны + был/была/были + infinitive + (rest of the sentence)

Examples:

Я должен был позвонить ему вечером.
Она должна была прийти вчера.

Russian word order is fairly flexible for emphasis, so you might see variations:

Я должен был ему позвонить вечером. (emphasis on ему)
Вчера я должен был позвонить ему. (emphasis on вчера)

But for a learner, use the “straight” order:
subject – должен/должна/должны – был/была/были – infinitive – other information.

Is должен here a verb? How is it different from the normal Russian verb conjugation?

Должен / должна / должно / должны is not a verb. It is a short-form adjective that behaves like a kind of modal word (similar to must / should in English).

Because it’s an adjective:

It changes only for gender and number, not for person:
- я / ты / он → должен (if male)
- я / ты / она → должна
- оно / это → должно
- мы / вы / они → должны
To put this “must/should” idea in the past, you add the past of быть (был / была / было / были).

So in я должен был уйти, the “verb” part (carrying tense) is really был, and должен is like a modal adjective meaning obliged / required / supposed.

Are there other common ways to express “had to / was supposed to” in the past that are similar to должен был?

Yes, very common alternatives include:

надо было + infinitive
- Мне надо было уйти. – I had to leave / I needed to leave. (colloquial, very frequent)
нужно было + infinitive
- Мне нужно было уйти. – I needed to leave / I had to leave. (neutral)
следовало + infinitive
- Мне следовало уйти. – I should have left. (more formal, often with a sense that you didn’t do it and it was a mistake)

All of these can overlap with должен был, but:

должен был – emphasizes duty / obligation / expectation;
надо было / нужно было – emphasize necessity / practical need;
следовало – often means “should have (but you didn’t)”, with a moral or evaluative tone.