Learn Spanish (Spain): Deberías vigilar a ese espía en el hotel.

Deberías vigilar a ese espía en el hotel.

You should watch that spy at the hotel.

Breakdown of Deberías vigilar a ese espía en el hotel.

in / on / by (means of transport) / about (after pensar)

el hotel

the hotel

personal a (marks a person object)

ese

that (m.sg., also esa, esos, esas, eso)

Questions & Answers about Deberías vigilar a ese espía en el hotel.

Why do we use the conditional deberías here instead of the present tense debes?

Deberías translates to 'you should' and is used to give polite advice or a suggestion. If we used the present tense debes, it would mean 'you must', which is a much stronger obligation or a strict command.

Why is there an a before ese espía?

This is the 'personal a'. In Spanish, when the direct object of an action is a specific person, you must put an a right before it. Since a spy is a person, we say vigilar a ese espía.

The word espía ends in an 'a'. Why do we use the masculine ese instead of esa?

Espía is a noun that stays exactly the same whether you are talking about a man or a woman. The word before it tells you the gender. Because we used ese, we know this specific spy is a man. If it were a female spy, we would say esa espía.

Could I use mirar instead of vigilar for 'to watch'?

Not really in this context. While mirar means 'to look at' or 'to watch' (like a movie), vigilar means 'to guard', 'to monitor', or 'to keep a close eye on'. Since we are dealing with a spy, vigilar is the exact word you need.