La política del gobierno debe de cambiar poco a poco.

The government’s policy must change little by little.

Breakdown of La política del gobierno debe de cambiar poco a poco.

• de: of
• cambiar: to change
• poco a poco: little by little
• el gobierno: the government
• deber de: must
• la política: the politician

Questions & Answers about La política del gobierno debe de cambiar poco a poco.

What is the difference between debe cambiar and debe de cambiar? Are both correct?

Both are grammatically correct, but there is a traditional nuance:

• deber + infinitive → obligation / necessity

  • La política del gobierno debe cambiar.
    = The government’s policy has to / must change.

• deber de + infinitive → probability / assumption

  • La política del gobierno debe de cambiar.
    = The government’s policy must be changing / is probably going to change.

In real-life modern Spanish (especially in Spain), this distinction is often blurred, and many speakers use deber and deber de almost interchangeably. However, grammar books still teach the difference above, and in careful or formal usage people often try to maintain it.

In your sentence, debe de cambiar sounds like a prediction or assumption: it’s bound to change little by little, more than a strong obligation like a command.

Why is it la política and not las políticas?

In Spanish, it’s common to use singular to talk about a policy or way of governing as a whole:

• la política del gobierno
  = the government’s policy / the government’s way of governing

If you say:

• las políticas del gobierno

you’re usually referring to specific individual policies (economic policy, social policy, etc.) as separate items.

So:

• la política del gobierno → the overall policy line / general political approach
• las políticas del gobierno → separate concrete policies or measures

Does política here mean “politics” or “policy”? How do I know?

In Spanish, política can mean several related things:

1. Politics (in general)

   • La política me aburre. = Politics bores me.

2. Policy / way of acting

   • La política del gobierno = The government’s policy
   • la política de la empresa = the company’s policy

In your sentence, because it’s “la política del gobierno”, context strongly points to “policy” or “policies” in the general sense (the government’s line of action).

You know from:

• the possessive phrase del gobierno, which suggests “the government’s policy” more than just “politics in general”;
• the usual collocation in Spanish: la política del gobierno is a very standard phrase for “government policy”.

Why is it del gobierno and not de el gobierno?

Del is just the mandatory contraction of de + el:

• de + el = del
  
  • la política del gobierno ✅
  • la política de el gobierno ❌

Spanish always contracts de el → del and a el → al, unless el is part of a proper name where it’s written separately (e.g. El Salvador):

• Voy al cine. = a + el cine
• Vengo del médico. = de + el médico
• Vengo de El Salvador. (no contraction because El is part of the country’s name)

What is the subject of debe de cambiar?

The subject is la política del gobierno.

Full structure:

• La política del gobierno → subject (3rd person singular)
• debe de → verb (3rd person singular of deber de)
• cambiar → infinitive (completes the meaning of debe de)
• poco a poco → adverbial phrase (how it changes)

That’s why the verb is debe (singular), not deben.

Why is cambiar in the infinitive and not conjugated (like cambia)?

The main conjugated verb here is debe (de).
Deber (de) is used as a modal verb, and it’s followed by an infinitive:

• debe de cambiar
• debe cambiar

This is similar to English “must change” or “has to change”, where “must / has to” is the modal-like verb and “change” stays in its base form.

You cannot conjugate both:

• ❌ La política del gobierno debe de cambia.
• ❌ La política del gobierno debe de cambiaremos.

It has to be debe (de) + infinitive:
La política del gobierno debe de cambiar. ✅

What tense and mood is debe de?

Debe de is:

• Verb: deber de
• Person/number: 3rd person singular
• Tense: present
• Mood: indicative

So: debe de = “(it) must / is bound to / is probably (doing something)” in the present.

Can I say La política del gobierno debe cambiar poco a poco without de? Does the meaning change?

Yes, you can. It’s grammatically correct:

• La política del gobierno debe cambiar poco a poco.

Traditionally, the nuance is:

• debe cambiar → obligation: has to / must change
• debe de cambiar → probability: must be going to change / is probably going to change

In actual everyday usage, many speakers don’t keep this distinction strictly, and both can be understood as “must change”. In careful writing, though, people often use:

• deber + infinitive for obligation
• deber de + infinitive for probability or assumption

What exactly does poco a poco mean, and can I move it in the sentence?

Poco a poco literally means “little by little” and is used like “gradually” or “bit by bit”.

Common positions:

• La política del gobierno debe de cambiar poco a poco. (very natural)
• Poco a poco, la política del gobierno debe de cambiar. (also natural, slightly more emphasis on the gradual nature)

You normally wouldn’t put it in the middle of the verb phrase:

• ❌ La política del gobierno debe poco a poco de cambiar. (sounds awkward)

It behaves as an adverbial phrase, so it’s flexible, but sentence-final or sentence-initial is the most natural.

Is there a difference between poco a poco and lentamente or gradualmente here?

All three suggest slowness/gradualness, but with slightly different nuances:

• poco a poco

  • Very common, slightly more colloquial / everyday.
  • Emphasizes small steps, progressive change.
  • La política del gobierno debe de cambiar poco a poco.

• lentamente (slowly)

  • Focus on speed (slow vs fast).
  • Sounds a bit more literal and neutral.
  • La política del gobierno debe de cambiar lentamente.

• gradualmente (gradually)

  • More formal/technical register.
  • Often used in written or formal contexts: economics, politics, science.
  • La política del gobierno debe de cambiar gradualmente.

In everyday spoken Spanish, poco a poco is the most idiomatic in this sentence.

Could the word order be La política del gobierno poco a poco debe de cambiar?

It’s possible, but much less natural. It can sound poetic, rhetorical, or slightly marked in ordinary speech.

Neutral, most common order:

• La política del gobierno debe de cambiar poco a poco.

Other acceptable orders with a different emphasis:

• Poco a poco, la política del gobierno debe de cambiar.
  (emphasis on the gradual process)

Putting poco a poco between the subject and the verb is unusual in normal prose and conversation.

Why is política feminine when gobierno is masculine? Shouldn’t they match?

They don’t have to match because they are different nouns, not an adjective and a noun.

• la política → feminine noun
• el gobierno → masculine noun

The structure is:

• la política (head noun, feminine, singular)
• del gobierno (prepositional phrase modifying política)

Spanish adjectives must agree with their nouns, but nouns don’t have to “agree” with each other in gender:

• la casa del hombre (feminine + masculine)
• el hijo de la presidenta (masculine + feminine)
• la política del gobierno (feminine + masculine)

This is perfectly normal.