What’s Broken In Spanish? | Say It The Right Way

Broken is usually roto in Spanish, but averiado, descompuesto, or estropeado may fit machines, food, or plans.

If you want the Spanish word for “broken,” start with roto. It works for a glass, a chair, a zipper, a toy, a bone, or any object that has snapped, cracked, torn, or split. The catch is that Spanish changes the ending to match the noun: roto, rota, rotos, or rotas.

That one word won’t fit every sentence. A phone that won’t turn on may be averiado, descompuesto, or estropeado. A promise may be roto. A person’s heart may be roto in a poetic line, but daily speech often uses destrozado or hecho polvo, depending on the country.

If someone points at a cracked mug, roto is perfect. If they point at a vending machine that eats coins, roto may sound childish; no funciona or está averiada is cleaner. Spanish often separates physical damage from failure, so context does real work here.

How To Say Broken In Spanish Without Sounding Stiff

The safest pattern is simple: name the thing, use estar, then choose the right form of the adjective. Spanish normally treats broken as a state, not as a permanent trait. That’s why you’ll hear está roto far more than es roto for a damaged object.

• El vaso está roto. — The glass is broken.
• La puerta está rota. — The door is broken.
• Los juguetes están rotos. — The toys are broken.
• Las ventanas están rotas. — The windows are broken.

Choose The Scene Before The Word

Before translating, ask what “broken” means in the sentence. Can you see a crack, tear, split, hole, or snap? Use a form of roto. Did a device stop working with no visible damage? Use no funciona, está descompuesto, or está averiado.

Food needs different wording. A spoiled egg is not un huevo roto unless the shell cracked. It is un huevo malo or un huevo echado a perder. A failed plan may be un plan que salió mal, not always a plan roto.

One more clue helps: if you can fix it with glue, tape, sewing, or a replacement part, roto will often work. If the item needs a technician, restart, battery, or service call, a working-status phrase usually sounds better.

Use Roto For A Physical Break

Roto comes from romper, the verb used when something breaks, tears, snaps, or gets split apart. The RAE definition of romper lists the idea of separating parts of a whole, which fits objects like plates, paper, ropes, boxes, and bones.

Use roto when the damage is visible or easy to describe. A cracked screen can be la pantalla está rota. A torn shirt can be la camisa está rota. A broken lock can be la cerradura está rota, mainly when the physical piece is damaged.

Use Averiado For A Faulty Device Or Vehicle

Averiado is a strong choice when a device, machine, car, elevator, appliance, or system has stopped working. It sounds less like a snapped object and more like a fault. The RAE entry for averiar ties the verb to a thing getting damaged or spoiled.

So, el ascensor está averiado means the elevator is out of order. El coche está averiado means the car has a mechanical fault. In many places, a sign on a machine may read fuera de servicio, which means “out of service.”

Descompuesto is also common for electronics, appliances, and cars, mainly in casual speech across much of Latin America. Estropeado is common too, and it can apply to a device, a plan, food, or something that was damaged through use.

Situation	Spanish Choice	Natural Line
Glass, plate, toy, chair	roto / rota	El plato está roto.
Door, lock, zipper	roto / rota	La cremallera está rota.
Phone, laptop, printer	descompuesto / estropeado	Mi teléfono está descompuesto.
Car, elevator, machine	averiado	El tren está averiado.
Food that has gone bad	echado a perder	La leche se echó a perder.
Broken promise or rule	roto / incumplido	Rompió su promesa.
Sad or crushed person	destrozado	Está destrozado.
Out-of-order sign	fuera de servicio	Baño fuera de servicio.

Broken In Spanish Forms And Agreement

The form changes because Spanish adjectives match the noun. The RAE note on adjective agreement states that adjectives match nouns in gender and number. That rule is why vaso takes roto, while ventana takes rota.

This small ending change is where many learners slip. You can know the right word and still sound off if the ending doesn’t match. Treat roto like a four-form adjective:

• roto — masculine singular: el plato roto
• rota — feminine singular: la taza rota
• rotos — masculine plural: los platos rotos
• rotas — feminine plural: las tazas rotas

Before And After The Noun

You can place roto after the noun in a short phrase: un vaso roto, una ventana rota. In a full sentence, estar is the usual verb: el vaso está roto, la ventana está rota. Both shapes are useful, but they do different jobs.

Un vaso roto names the kind of glass. El vaso está roto tells someone the glass has damage now. That second shape is the one you want when explaining a problem to a hotel clerk, teacher, host, mechanic, or friend.

Estar Roto Vs Romperse

Use estar roto to say something is already broken. Use romperse when the breaking happens. The difference is handy because English often uses one sentence shape for both.

El vaso está roto means the glass is already broken. El vaso se rompió means the glass broke. If you caused the damage, use rompí el vaso, which means “I broke the glass.”

When Broken Means Feelings

English uses “broken” for hurt feelings, tiredness, grief, and defeat. Spanish can do that too, but the best line depends on tone. Tengo el corazón roto means “I have a broken heart.” Estoy destrozado sounds more like “I’m crushed.”

For casual talk, many speakers choose a phrase that names the feeling instead of a direct match. Estoy hecho polvo can mean you are worn out or emotionally wrecked, depending on the place and the moment.

English Idea	Spanish Line	Use It When
It is broken	Está roto.	The state matters now.
It broke	Se rompió.	The break just happened.
I broke it	Lo rompí.	You caused the damage.
It doesn’t work	No funciona.	The reason is unclear.
It is out of order	Está fuera de servicio.	A public machine or room is down.
It got ruined	Se estropeó.	The item went bad or failed.

Common Mistakes With Broken In Spanish

Many English speakers reach for one word every time. That can work in a basic sentence, but Spanish has cleaner choices for daily speech. If a device fails, no funciona may sound more natural instead of calling it physically broken.

Watch these traps:

• Don’t say es roto for a damaged object. Say está roto.
• Don’t leave the ending unchanged. Match roto, rota, rotos, or rotas to the noun.
• Don’t use roto for spoiled food. Say se echó a perder or está malo, based on the sentence.
• Don’t use only averiado in casual talk. No funciona is often smoother.

Sample Lines You Can Copy

These lines handle the situations you’ll need most often. Swap the noun, then adjust the ending. If the noun is feminine, use rota. If it is plural, add s.

• Perdón, la cerradura está rota. — Sorry, the lock is broken.
• La impresora no funciona. — The printer doesn’t work.
• El ascensor está fuera de servicio. — The elevator is out of order.
• Se me rompió el cargador. — My charger broke.
• Rompí el plato sin querer. — I broke the plate by accident.

Best Choice For Real Sentences

For a cracked, snapped, torn, or split item, use roto and match the ending. For a device or vehicle with a fault, use averiado, descompuesto, estropeado, or the plain phrase no funciona. For a sign, fuera de servicio is the clean public wording.

Here’s the simple test: if the object has physical damage, choose roto. If it just won’t work, choose no funciona or a machine word. If a person caused the break, use romper. Those three habits will make your Spanish sound natural right away.