No deberíamos gastar tanto dinero en ocio.

We shouldn’t spend so much money on leisure.

Breakdown of No deberíamos gastar tanto dinero en ocio.

• nosotros: we
• en: on
• gastar: to spend
• el dinero: the money
• .: period
• no: not
• deber: should
• el ocio: the leisure
• tanto: so

Questions & Answers about No deberíamos gastar tanto dinero en ocio.

Why does the sentence use deberíamos instead of debemos?

Debemos = we must / we have to (stronger, more direct obligation).
Deberíamos = we should (softer, more tentative or polite).

Using deberíamos makes the sentence sound like advice, a recommendation, or a moral opinion, not a strict rule. In English terms, it’s closer to:

• No debemos gastar tanto dinero en ocio. → We mustn’t / we can’t spend so much money on leisure.
• No deberíamos gastar tanto dinero en ocio. → We shouldn’t spend so much money on leisure. (more like advice)

Why does no go before deberíamos and not before gastar?

In Spanish, no normally goes right before the conjugated verb of the clause:

• Conjugated verb: deberíamos
• Infinitive: gastar

So the correct order is:

• No deberíamos gastar…

Putting no before the infinitive (No gastar deberíamos…) is ungrammatical. The negative always attaches to the main conjugated verb of the sentence, even if that verb is followed by one or more infinitives.

Why is gastar in the infinitive form?

Deber works similarly to English should / must: it is followed by an infinitive to express what action is involved.

• deber + infinitive → deber gastar = should spend

So you conjugate deber (deberíamos) and keep the next verb (gastar) in the infinitive, just like in English you say we should spend, not we should spends.

What is the difference between gastar and gastarse?

Both exist, but there are nuances:

• gastar (transitive): to spend / to use up

  • No deberíamos gastar tanto dinero en ocio.
    → We shouldn’t spend so much money on leisure.

• gastarse (pronominal / reflexive): often means to use up completely or to wear out.

  • Se gastó todo el dinero. → He/She spent all the money.
  • Las pilas se han gastado. → The batteries have run out.

In your sentence, gastar (without se) is the standard way to say spend money.
Gastarse would sound more like use it all up, and you would also need the reflexive pronoun (nos): No deberíamos gastarnos tanto dinero..., which is possible but slightly more colloquial and with a nuance of “using it up on ourselves.”

Why is it tanto dinero and not tan dinero? How does tanto work here?

Tan and tanto are different:

• tan is used before adjectives/adverbs:

  • tan caro = so expensive
  • tan rápido = so fast

• tanto / tanta / tantos / tantas is used before nouns to mean so much / so many:

  • tanto dinero = so much money
  • tanta comida = so much food
  • tantos libros = so many books

Because dinero is a masculine singular noun, you use tanto:

• tanto dinero → so much money / that much money

Is dinero countable in Spanish? Why not dineros?

In normal everyday Spanish, dinero is treated like an uncountable noun, similar to money in English:

• No tengo dinero. → I have no money.
• Tanto dinero. → So much money.

There is a plural dineros, but:

• It is rare and sounds old-fashioned, literary, or somewhat humorous.
• It usually means funds or sums of money, not coins or notes literally.

So in modern speech, dinero is almost always singular, even when the quantity is large.

Why is the preposition en used in en ocio instead of para ocio or something else?

En in this context corresponds to English on:

• gastar dinero en algo = to spend money on something

Typical patterns:

• gastar dinero en ocio → spend money on leisure
• gastar dinero en comida → spend money on food
• gastar dinero en ropa → spend money on clothes

Para is more “for the purpose of,” so gastar dinero para ocio sounds odd here. The idiomatic, standard pattern with gastar is gastar … en … when talking about what you spend money/time on.

What exactly does ocio mean, and how is it different from tiempo libre or entretenimiento?

Ocio is a somewhat formal/neutral word meaning leisure or free-time activities as a general concept.

Rough differences:

• ocio: the concept of leisure/free time and what you do with it, often from a more general or economic/social point of view.

  • gasto en ocio, oferta de ocio, actividades de ocio

• tiempo libre: literally free time (the time, not the activities).

  • No tengo tiempo libre. → I don’t have any free time.

• entretenimiento / diversiones: entertainment, things that amuse you.

  • industrias del entretenimiento, diversiones para los niños

In your sentence, ocio works well because it refers broadly to leisure activities as a category of spending. In Spain, ocio is very commonly used in this economic/social sense (e.g. ocio nocturno, ocio digital).

Can you say en el ocio instead of en ocio? Is there a difference?

You can say en el ocio, but the nuance changes:

• en ocio sounds like talking about leisure as a general spending category:

  • on leisure, as a type of expense

• en el ocio points to a more specific or previously mentioned kind of leisure (or to leisure understood as a particular sector):

  • For example, in a discussion about different sectors: en la educación, en la sanidad, en el ocio...

In isolation, No deberíamos gastar tanto dinero en ocio sounds more natural and general. En el ocio is possible but would usually be within a broader context.

Could you include nosotros in the sentence? Where would it go, and does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can add the subject pronoun nosotros for emphasis or clarity:

• Nosotros no deberíamos gastar tanto dinero en ocio.

Typical positions:

1. At the start (most common for emphasis):
   
   • Nosotros no deberíamos gastar tanto dinero en ocio.
2. After no (less common):
   
   • No nosotros deberíamos gastar... → sounds unnatural in modern Spanish.

Spanish normally drops subject pronouns because the verb ending (-íamos) already tells you it’s we. Adding nosotros just emphasizes we (as opposed to others).

What nuance or politeness does the conditional deberíamos add compared to debemos?

The conditional in Spanish can soften statements, similar to how English uses should, would, could:

• No debemos gastar tanto dinero en ocio.
  → Stronger, more categorical: We must not / we cannot spend so much money on leisure.

• No deberíamos gastar tanto dinero en ocio.
  → Softer, more like advice or a considered opinion: We shouldn’t spend so much money on leisure.

Using deberíamos sounds:

• Less bossy
• More tentative / polite
• More like you’re sharing a judgment rather than imposing a rule

Is there a difference between no deberíamos gastar tanto dinero en ocio and no tendríamos que gastar tanto dinero en ocio?

Both can be translated as we shouldn’t spend so much money on leisure, but there are nuances:

• deber / deberíamos: often has a more moral or advisory flavor (we ought to / we should).
• tener que / tendríamos que: focuses more on necessity, obligation, or practical constraints (we would have to / we’d need to).

In your sentence:

• No deberíamos gastar tanto dinero en ocio.
  → More like: It’s not a good idea / It’s not right that we spend so much.

• No tendríamos que gastar tanto dinero en ocio.
  → Can suggest: We wouldn’t need to spend so much / It shouldn’t be necessary to spend so much. (though in casual speech many people use it similarly to no deberíamos)

For a straightforward moral or practical recommendation, no deberíamos is the most natural here.

Why does deberíamos have an accent mark on the í?

Deberíamos is the conditional form of deber for nosotros:

• Stem: deber-
• Conditional ending for nosotros: -íamos

The accent follows normal stress rules:

• Without an accent, deberiamos would be pronounced with stress on the a (de-be-ri-A-mos).
• With the accent, deberíamos is stressed on rí (de-be-RÍ-a-mos).

The written accent í tells you where the stress goes and also distinguishes it from other forms (like deberiamos if that spelling existed without an accent).