Word
Tu perro nunca debe lamer su herida.
Meaning
Your dog must never lick its wound.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Tu perro nunca debe lamer su herida.
el perro
the dog
tu
your
su
his/her/its/their/your (formal)
nunca
never
Questions & Answers about Tu perro nunca debe lamer su herida.
Why is it su herida instead of using a reflexive verb like lamerse la herida?
While Spanish usually avoids possessive adjectives for body parts in favor of a reflexive pronoun plus a definite article (like lamerse la pata for licking a paw), a wound (herida) is a temporary affliction, not an inherent body part. Because of this, it is very common to just use the possessive su herida. That said, lamerse la herida is also perfectly natural and widely used!
I always get confused between deber and deber de. Why is it just debe here?
I thought Spanish required double negatives. Why isn't there a no in this sentence?
Spanish only requires a double negative if the verb comes before the negative word. Because nunca is placed directly in front of the verb (nunca debe), you do not need no. If you wanted to put nunca at the end of the sentence, you would need the double negative: Tu perro no debe lamer su herida nunca.