Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Debes obedecer a tu madre cuando te dice que cruces con cuidado. - You must obey your mother when she tells you to cross carefully.

Debes obedecer a tu madre cuando te dice que cruces con cuidado.

You must obey your mother when she tells you to cross carefully.

Breakdown of Debes obedecer a tu madre cuando te dice que cruces con cuidado.

Questions & Answers about Debes obedecer a tu madre cuando te dice que cruces con cuidado.

Why does the sentence start with debes and not tú debes?

In Spanish, subject pronouns are often left out because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

debes = you must / you should
The -es ending tells us the subject is tú

So Debes obedecer... is completely natural.
You could say Tú debes obedecer..., but that would usually add emphasis, as if contrasting you with someone else.

Why is it obedecer a tu madre? Why is there an a after obedecer?

This is because tu madre is a person, and Spanish often uses the personal a before a human direct object.

So:

obedecer a tu madre = to obey your mother
ver a tu madre = to see your mother
escuchar a tu madre = to listen to your mother

Even though English does not use a preposition here, Spanish normally does when the object is a specific person.

Is obedecer the same as escuchar?