debiste

Debiste is the second person singular form of the Spanish verb deber in the pretérito perfecto simple (simple past). It expresses an obligation or expectation in the past, often with a nuance of reproach or reminder, and is commonly translated as "you should have" or "you were supposed to." The verb deber itself comes from Latin debēre.

Usage and nuance: Debiste is used to refer to past actions that were expected or required but may not have occurred. It can convey advice given after the fact or a retrospective criticism. For example: Debiste avisarme cuando llegaste. (You should have told me when you arrived.) Debiste estudiar más para el examen. (You should have studied more for the exam.) To emphasize the idea of a missed action, many speakers also use the construction debiste haber + past participle, as in Debiste haber terminado el informe ya. (You should have finished the report already.)

Conjugation context: Debiste is the 2nd person singular past tense form of deber. The full present tense conjugation is debo, debes, debe, debemos, debéis, deben; the imperfect is debía, debías, debía, debíamos, debíais, debían; and deber combines with haber to form compound tenses like deber haber + participle for past-referenced obligations.

Pronunciation: debiste is typically pronounced de-BIS-te, with the stress on the second syllable.

In summary, debiste is used to discuss past obligations or expectations related to actions that were not fulfilled, often carrying a sense of reproach or advice about what one should have done.