Los deberes.
Homework.
The guitar-playing teacher asks the class what else makes them mad, and a girl answers with the plural los deberes, since singular el deber means duty.
From Escuela de rock · Spanish audio
Spanish vocabularyA1 · Beginner
How to say "homework" in Spanish
los deberes
nounmasculine pluralLatin America: la tarea
"Homework" in Spanish is los deberes in Spain and la tarea in Mexico and most of Latin America. Deberes stays plural even for one worksheet, and you do homework with the verb hacer: hacer los deberes, hacer la tarea.
Hear "deberes" in real movie scenes
A complaint in class and a question in an office. Each video starts and stops on that line.
¿Ha estado ayudando a Doris con los deberes?
Have you been helping Doris with her homework?
In the office, the priest asks the girl's companion this, and ayudar con los deberes is how you say "help with homework".
From Ouija: el origen del mal · Spanish audio
Deberes or tarea?
The word for homework depends on the country.
| Word | Where you'll hear it | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| los deberes | Spain | Always plural when it means homework. |
| la tarea | Mexico and most of Latin America | Often singular: hacer la tarea. It can also mean any task. |
| las tareas de casa | Everywhere | This means household chores. |
| el deber | Everywhere | In the singular it means duty or obligation. |
Tip: To ask a classmate what you have to do, say ¿Qué hay de deberes? in Spain or ¿Cuál es la tarea? in Mexico.
Grammar: hacer los deberes
Four things to get right when you talk about homework.
Plural for homework
los deberes, even if it's one page of exercises. Drop the -es and el deber becomes duty.You do it with hacer
hacer los deberes: El niño hace los deberes. The past form is hice: Hice mis deberes.Plural possessives
Because deberes is plural, so is the word for whose: mis deberes, tus deberes, sus deberes.Help with homework
Use ayudar con: ¿Me ayudas con los deberes? In Latin America: ¿Me ayudas con la tarea?Example sentences
Sentences from the Wordy Spanish course. Tap to listen.
El niño hace los deberes.
The boy does his homework.
Primero los deberes.
Homework first.
Haz los deberes en casa de mi amiga.
Do your homework at my friend's place.
Hice mis deberes.
I did my homework.
Common mistakes
Mistakes learners make with this word, and how to fix them.
✗el deber (meaning homework)
✓los deberes
One deber is a duty. Schoolwork always takes the plural.
✗Hago mi deberes
✓Hago mis deberes
Mi has to match the plural noun, so it becomes mis.
✗Los deberes es difícil
✓Los deberes son difíciles
English treats homework as singular, but deberes is plural, so the verb and adjective are plural too.
Practice: 3 quick exercises
Free, and you don't need an account.
1 of 3 · Watch and choose
What do you hear in the video?
The other 28 exercises on this topic are in the app.
How to remember it
Deberes are literally "duties", from deber, must. Homework is the duty you must finish before the next class.
Questions about "homework" in Spanish
How do you say homework in Spanish?
Los deberes in Spain and la tarea in Mexico and most of Latin America.
How do you say "do homework" in Spanish?
Use hacer: hacer los deberes or hacer la tarea. Tengo que hacer los deberes means I have to do my homework.
Is deberes singular or plural?
Plural, and it stays plural when it means homework. The singular el deber means duty.
How do you say "I did my homework" in Spanish?
Hice mis deberes in Spain, or Hice mi tarea in Latin America.
