Learn Spanish (Spain): ¿Cuánto te debo?

¿Cuánto te debo?

How much do I owe you?

Breakdown of ¿Cuánto te debo?

cuánto

how much

to you / yourself (reflexive) / you (direct object)

deber

to owe

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Questions & Answers about ¿Cuánto te debo?

Wait, doesn't debo usually mean 'must' or 'should'?

Yes! When used before another verb, deber means 'must' or 'should' (like debo ir, meaning 'I must go'). But when it is used as a regular verb on its own, especially involving money or favors, it means 'to owe'. So te debo translates to 'I owe you'.

Why is te placed before the verb instead of after?

In Spanish, object pronouns like te (which means 'to you' here) go immediately before the conjugated verb. It acts as an indirect object because you are owing money to someone.

Could it ever be cuánta or cuántos in this sentence?

Not in this exact context. When you ask 'How much do I owe you?' without naming a specific item, you use the default masculine singular cuánto. You would only change it to cuántos if you were asking about a specific plural noun, like ¿Cuántos euros te debo? (How many euros do I owe you?).

Why does Cuánto have an accent mark?

All question words in Spanish (like qué, cómo, dónde, and cuánto) require an accent mark when they are used in a direct question or an exclamation. This helps tell them apart from their non-question forms when reading.