Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Deberías apagar el celular cuando estudias, para concentrarte mejor. - You should turn off your phone when you study, to focus better.

Debes apagar el celular ≈ You must / you really should turn off your phone (stronger, more like an obligation).
Tienes que apagar el celular ≈ You have to turn off your phone (very strong, more like a requirement).
Deberías apagar el celular ≈ You should turn off your phone (politer, less forceful).

So deberías matches the gentle, advisory tone of the English sentence.

What exactly does deberías mean grammatically?

Grammatically:

The verb is deber (to have to, should, ought to).
Deberías is second person singular, conditional tense (tú).
Literally: you would have to → in practice: you should / ought to.

The conditional tense here is used to soften the idea, making it sound like advice rather than a strict rule.

Why is there no tú in the sentence?

In Spanish, subject pronouns (yo, tú, él, nosotros, etc.) are often omitted because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

Deberías can only be tú (you, singular informal), so tú is not needed.
You could say Tú deberías apagar el celular, but that usually adds emphasis, like:
- You (especially you) should turn off your phone.

So the normal, neutral version is without tú.

Why is it el celular and not tu celular?

Spanish often uses the definite article (el, la, los, las) where English uses a possessive (my/your/his…).

apagar el celular literally: turn off the phone
Context makes it clear it’s your phone.

You can say apagar tu celular, and that’s also correct. The difference is subtle:

apagar el celular – more general; phones as an object you have on you.
apagar tu celular – slightly more personal/explicit: your own phone.

Both are natural in Latin American Spanish.

What’s the difference between celular, móvil, and teléfono?

All related to “phone,” but with regional preferences:

celular – most common word for “cell phone / mobile” in Latin America.
móvil – most common word for “cell phone / mobile” in Spain.
teléfono – general “telephone”; can be landline or cell, depending on context.

In Latin America, el celular is the most natural choice for a mobile phone in everyday speech.

Why is it cuando estudias and not cuando estudies?

Both are possible, but they’re used differently.

cuando estudias (present indicative)
- Used for habitual, general situations:
  - When you study (in general)…
- That matches advice about a general habit.
cuando estudies (present subjunctive)
- More about future or hypothetical situations:
  - When you (next) study… / When you happen to study…
- Feels more like talking about a specific future scenario.

In this sentence, the speaker is giving general advice about study habits, so cuando estudias is the natural choice.

Why not say cuando estás estudiando instead of cuando estudias?

You could say:

Deberías apagar el celular cuando estás estudiando…

It’s grammatical, but cuando estudias is:

Shorter and more idiomatic for general habits.
The simple present in Spanish already covers the idea of “whenever you are studying / when you study.”

Cuando estás estudiando often sounds more like a specific ongoing activity, similar to “while you’re studying right now.”

What does para concentrarte mejor literally mean, and why use para + infinitive?

Literally:

para = “in order to / so as to”
concentrarte = “concentrate-yourself” (concentrar
- te)
mejor = “better”

So para concentrarte mejor ≈ “in order to concentrate better”.

Spanish often uses para + infinitive to express purpose:

Apaga el celular para dormir bien. – Turn off the phone to sleep well.
Estudia para pasar el examen. – Study to pass the exam.

Same pattern here: purpose of turning off the phone = to concentrate better.

Why is it concentrarte and not te concentrar?

In Spanish, object and reflexive pronouns (like me, te, se, nos) usually go:

Before a conjugated verb:
- te concentras – you concentrate
- te quieres concentrar – you want to concentrate
Attached to an infinitive, gerund, or affirmative command:
- concentrarte – to concentrate (yourself)
- para concentrarte – in order to concentrate
- ¡Concéntrate! – Concentrate!

So after para, you must use infinitive + attached pronoun → para concentrarte, not para te concentrar.

Why is concentrarse reflexive in Spanish if English just says “concentrate”?

Many verbs about mental or physical states are reflexive in Spanish, even when English is not:

calmarse – to calm down
sentirse mal – to feel bad
enojarse – to get angry
concentrarse – to concentrate (oneself)

Using me/te/se/nos emphasizes that the action affects the subject:

Me concentro. – I concentrate (myself).
Te concentras. – You concentrate (yourself).

There is a non-reflexive concentrar too, which is transitive:

Este trabajo concentra mucha información. – This work concentrates a lot of information.

But for “to focus your mind, pay attention”, Spanish uses concentrarse.

Could I say para que te concentres mejor instead of para concentrarte mejor? What’s the difference?

Yes, both are correct, but the structure changes:

para concentrarte mejor
- para + infinitive
- More direct, a bit more informal in feel.
- in order to concentrate better.
para que te concentres mejor
- para que + subjunctive (te concentres)
- A little more explicit / structured, often a bit more formal.
- so that you (may) concentrate better.

Meaning is almost the same. The original sentence chooses the simpler para + infinitive form.

Can I replace el celular with a pronoun, like “it”?

Yes. Once the context is clear, you can use a direct object pronoun:

Deberías apagarlo cuando estudias, para concentrarte mejor.
- lo refers to el celular.

Position:

Before a conjugated verb: Lo deberías apagar.
Attached to an infinitive: Deberías apagarlo.

Both are correct; Deberías apagarlo is more common in conversation.

How would this sentence look in a formal usted form?

To address someone formally (usted), you change the verb forms and the reflexive pronoun:

Debería apagar el celular cuando estudia, para concentrarse mejor.

Changes:

Deberías → Debería (usted, conditional)
estudias → estudia (usted, present tense)
concentrarte → concentrarse (reflexive for usted/él/ella)

Meaning stays the same, but it’s aimed at usted instead of tú.