Questions & Answers about Deberías limpiar el refrigerador porque está sucio.
Why is deberías used here instead of debes?
Deberías is the conditional form of the verb deber. While debes is an obligation meaning "you must", using the conditional deberías softens the statement to mean "you should". This is the standard way to give polite advice or suggestions without sounding like you are giving a strict order. Why is limpiar in the infinitive form rather than conjugated?
When you have a verb like deber followed immediately by another verb, only the first verb is conjugated to match the subject. The second verb, limpiar, stays in the infinitive (the basic dictionary form). You can think of it as saying "you should clean" rather than "you should you clean". Why do we use está sucio instead of es sucio?
We use está (from the verb estar) because being dirty is a temporary state or condition. If you used es (from ser), it would imply that the refrigerator is inherently a filthy object by its very nature, rather than just needing to be washed right now. I have heard other Spanish words for "refrigerator". Is refrigerador the most common one?
It depends entirely on the country! Refrigerador is widely understood and very common in places like Mexico and Chile. However, in Latin America you will also frequently hear la nevera (common in Colombia, Venezuela, and the Caribbean) or la heladera (used in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay). Learn Deberías limpiar el refrigerador porque está sucio and more in Spanish
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