Phrase · 🕵️ Speculating about the past
Debe de estar atrapada en el tráfico.
She must be stuck in traffic.
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Why every word is where it is
Why it's built this way
The notes match the numbers above.
- 1deber de + infinitive = probability (she is probably stuck). Without de, deber means obligation, though many speakers use debe estar for both. Future perfect and the conditional of probability →
- 2atrapada agrees with the subject, a woman; atrapado for a man. Mexico also says atorada.
- 3tráfico = road traffic; Mexico and Argentina also say tránsito.
Variations
- Debe estar atrapada en el tráfico.
- Estará atrapada en el tráfico.