Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

Spanish (Latin America)

### Polite Advice with "Deber" and "Poder"

Direct commands can sound a bit harsh, especially when you're trying to keep the peace with a roommate. Instead, use the conditional forms of **deber** (should / ought to) and **poder** (could / to be able to) to offer friendly, polite advice.

Use **deberías** (you should) to give a clear recommendation, and **podrías** (you could) to offer a gentle suggestion or make a polite request.

{{item:782135}}

{{item:782141}}

{{item:782150}}

If you are giving advice to multiple people, just use the *ustedes* form:

{{item:782146}}

### "If I were you..."

Another great way to give advice without sounding bossy is to share what you would do in their shoes. Use the phrase **yo en tu lugar** (literally "I in your place") followed by a verb in the conditional tense.

{{item:782138}}

{{item:782149}}

{{item:782156}}

### Softening Suggestions with "Sería"

Finally, you can make impersonal recommendations using **sería** (it would be) paired with adjectives like **mejor** (better) or **ideal** (ideal). This removes the "you" from the sentence entirely, making the advice feel even less direct!

{{item:782151}}

{{item:782153}}

Polite advice (deberías...)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

expression

interjection

noun

numeral

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (yo soy)

Noun gender and definite articles (el, la)

Basic sentences and negation (no)

Indefinite articles (un, una)

Formal and informal you (tú vs. usted)

Plural pronouns and the verb to be (somos, son)

Making nouns plural (-s, -es)

Plural articles (los, las, unos, unas)

Noun gender exceptions

Adjective agreement

Invariable adjectives

State and location (estar)

Ser vs. estar

There is / there are (hay)

Hay vs. estar

To have (tener)

Possession (de)

Possessive adjectives (mi, tu, su)

Regular -ar verbs

Yes/No questions

What and who (qué, quién)

Regular -er verbs

Regular -ir verbs

Asking where (dónde, adónde)

How, when, and why (cómo, cuándo, por qué)

How much and how many (cuánto)

Days of the week

Going to a place (ir a)

Preposition contractions (al, del)

In and by (en)

With me and with you (conmigo, contigo)

Prepositional pronouns (mí, ti)

Conjunctions (y, o, pero)

Giving reasons (porque)

Stem-changing verbs (e to ie)

Stem-changing verbs (o to ue)

Stem-changing verbs (e to i)

Irregular yo forms (hago, salgo)

To know (saber vs. conocer)

Weather expressions (hace, está)

Desires and plans (querer)

Ability and requests (poder)

Obligations (tener que)

Expressing likes (me gusta)

Plural likes (me gustan)

Verbs like gustar (encantar, doler)

Very vs. a lot (muy, mucho)

Numbers 0 to 15 (cero, uno, dos…)

Numbers 16 to 31 (dieciséis, veinte…)

Numbers 30 to 1000 (treinta, cien, mil)

Months of the year (enero, febrero, marzo)

Seasons and dates (el dos de mayo)

Telling time (es la..., son las...)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primero, segundo, tercero)

Reflexive pronouns and verbs (me, te, se, nos)

Direct object pronouns (lo, la, los, las)

The near future (ir a)

The present continuous (estar + -ando, -iendo)

Near demonstrative adjectives (este, esta, estos, estas)

Medium demonstrative adjectives (ese, esa, esos, esas)

Comparatives of inequality (más / menos ... que)

Comparatives of equality (tan ... como)

Indefinite and negative pronouns (algo, nada, alguien, nadie)

Affirmative commands

Far demonstratives (aquel, aquella)

Possessive pronouns (el mío, el tuyo)

Shortened indefinite adjectives (algún, ningún)

Adverbs of quantity (demasiado, bastante)

Adverbs of frequency (a menudo, a veces)

Adverb formation (-mente)

Exclamations (¡Qué...!)

Irregular comparatives (mejor, peor, mayor, menor)

Relative superlatives (el más... de)

Adjective intensification (-ísimo)

Indirect object pronouns

Pronoun placement with infinitives

Double object pronouns (me lo, te la)

The 'se lo' rule (se lo, se la)

Impersonal statements (se)

Impersonal obligation (hay que)

Personal obligation (deber)

Starting actions (empezar a)

Finishing and quitting actions (terminar de, dejar de)

Repeating actions (volver a)

Continuing actions (seguir + gerundio)

Question	Answer
the refrigerator	el refrigerador
You should clean the refrigerator because it is dirty.	Deberías limpiar el refrigerador porque está sucio.
to negotiate	negociar
flexible	flexible
If I were you, I would negotiate the rent and be more flexible.	Yo en tu lugar, negociaría el alquiler y sería más flexible.
understanding	comprensivo
the washing machine	la lavadora
You could be more understanding. The washing machine makes a lot of noise.	Podrías ser más comprensivo. La lavadora hace mucho ruido.
to live together	convivir
to propose	proponer
To live together well, I would propose dividing the expenses.	Para convivir bien, yo propondría dividir los gastos.
the privacy	la privacidad
You all should respect privacy and clean the apartment.	Ustedes deberían respetar la privacidad y limpiar el departamento.
It is difficult to live with you, that's why you should be more flexible.	Es difícil convivir contigo, por eso deberías ser más flexible.
the cleaning	la limpieza
If I were you, I would propose a new cleaning routine.	Yo en tu lugar propondría una nueva rutina de limpieza.
Could you use the washing machine in the morning?	¿Podrías usar la lavadora en la mañana?
It would be better to negotiate the space to have more privacy.	Sería mejor negociar el espacio para tener más privacidad.
I would never use your things without asking. You should respect my privacy.	Yo nunca usaría tus cosas sin preguntar. Deberías respetar mi privacidad.
To live together better, it would be ideal to negotiate when to use the washing machine.	Para convivir mejor, sería ideal negociar cuándo usar la lavadora.
to tolerate	tolerar
You should be more understanding and tolerate the noise.	Tú deberías ser más comprensivo y tolerar el ruido.
In your place, I would not tolerate the mess and would organize the cleaning of the refrigerator.	Yo en tu lugar no toleraría el desorden y organizaría la limpieza del refrigerador.
the doctor (physician)	el médico
You are sick. You should go to the doctor.	Estás enfermo. Deberías ir al médico.
The family doctor is excellent.	El médico de la familia es excelente.
to drive (= manejar); to lead	conducir
You shouldn't drive so fast.	No deberías conducir tan rápido.
Driving in the city is difficult.	Conducir en la ciudad es difícil.
drunk	borracho
You shouldn't drive drunk.	No deberías manejar borracho.
The drunk man was singing in the street.	El hombre borracho cantaba en la calle.
the driver (LatAm)	el chofer
The bus driver drives well.	El chofer del autobús maneja bien.
The taxi driver is friendly.	El chofer del taxi es amable.
the highway	la autopista
There are many cars on the highway.	Hay muchos carros en la autopista.
We drive on the highway.	Manejamos por la autopista.
the parking lot (LatAm)	el estacionamiento
The hotel's parking lot is big.	El estacionamiento del hotel es grande.
There is no parking downtown.	No hay estacionamiento en el centro.