For objects, say roto; for machines, averiado or descompuesto; for bones, fracturado; context decides the best word.
Broken looks like one word, but Spanish splits it into several choices. A cup, a promise, a phone, a bone, a heart, and a sentence can all be “broken” in English. In Spanish, each one may need a different term.
The safest habit is to ask what kind of damage happened. Is the item cracked? Is a device not working? Is a rule no longer being followed? Is someone talking about pain, trust, or grammar? Once you name the kind of break, the Spanish word becomes much easier to pick.
This lesson gives you the most natural Spanish matches, sample lines, and small usage notes. You’ll see when to use roto, quebrado, averiado, descompuesto, fracturado, interrumpido, and a few related choices that sound natural in daily speech.
Broken in Spanish to English Meanings By Situation
The broad translation of “broken” is roto. It works for many physical things: glass, shoes, plates, toys, doors, zippers, bags, and screens. If you only know one word, start there. Still, roto can sound too broad when the object is a machine, a bone, or an abstract idea.
For devices and appliances, Spanish speakers often say averiado or descompuesto. Averiado can feel a little more formal or technical. Descompuesto is common in many Latin American settings for a phone, car, elevator, computer, fridge, or washing machine that stopped working.
For bones, use fracturado or roto. In medical or school writing, fracturado sounds cleaner: Tiene el brazo fracturado, “He has a broken arm.” In casual speech, Se rompió el brazo is also natural: “He broke his arm.”
How To Pick The Right Spanish Word
Start with the noun. If the noun is a thing you can hold, roto often works. If the noun runs on parts, wires, batteries, or software, descompuesto or averiado may sound better. If the noun is a bone, fracturado is neat and exact.
Next, check whether you need an adjective or a verb. “The chair is broken” uses an adjective: La silla está rota. “I broke the chair” uses the verb romper: Rompí la silla. “The chair broke” can be La silla se rompió, using se because it happened to the chair.
Then match gender and number. Roto changes like many Spanish adjectives. Say vaso roto, puerta rota, zapatos rotos, and pantallas rotas. That small ending matters because Spanish adjectives agree with the noun.
Roto For Physical Damage
Use roto when something has a rip, crack, split, snapped part, or missing piece. Mi mochila está rota means “My backpack is broken” or “My backpack is torn.” For clothes, English may prefer “torn,” but Spanish can still use roto.
Quebrado can also mean broken, mainly when something hard breaks, like glass, a cup, a tile, or a branch. In some places, quebrado is common for bones too. In other places, roto or fracturado sounds more natural. Local speech matters here.
Averiado And Descompuesto For Things That Stop Working
When the problem is function, not shape, use a device word. El ascensor está averiado means “The elevator is broken.” Mi celular está descompuesto means “My phone is broken.” Both point to a thing that won’t work as expected.
For cars, machines, and formal notices, averiado is a safe choice. For home talk, descompuesto feels natural in many countries. In Spain, people may also say estropeado: La lavadora está estropeada, “The washing machine is broken.”
Fracturado For Bones And Medical Lines
For a bone, fracturado is the cleanest word in medical or school settings. Say tobillo fracturado for “broken ankle” and costilla fracturada for “broken rib.” It gives the sentence a precise feel without making it stiff.
When speaking with friends, romperse is common. Me rompí la muñeca means “I broke my wrist.” Notice the Spanish structure uses me because the injury happened to the speaker’s body.
| English Use | Natural Spanish Choice | Sample Line |
|---|---|---|
| Broken glass or plate | roto / quebrado | El plato está roto. |
| Broken phone or laptop | descompuesto / averiado | Mi portátil está averiado. |
| Broken elevator | averiado | El ascensor está averiado. |
| Broken bone | fracturado / roto | Tiene la pierna fracturada. |
| Broken zipper or bag | roto | La cremallera está rota. |
| Broken promise | incumplido | Fue una promesa incumplida. |
| Broken rule | infringido / violado | Se infringió la regla. |
| Broken heart | corazón roto | Me dejó con el corazón roto. |
| Broken connection | interrumpido / cortado | La llamada se cortó. |
Common Mistakes With Broken In Spanish
Many learners overuse roto. It’s understandable, since it’s short and common. The trouble is that English “broken” stretches into areas where Spanish prefers a more exact word. A broken machine is not always roto; a broken promise is not promesa rota in careful speech.
Another mistake is using ser when Spanish needs estar. For conditions, use estar: La ventana está rota. The window is in a broken state. Ser rota sounds wrong in normal speech because the sentence is not naming a permanent identity.
One more trap is translating “broken English” word for word. If someone’s English is hard to understand, Spanish may say inglés entrecortado, inglés limitado, or inglés poco fluido, depending on tone. Inglés roto can sound harsh or odd.
When Broken Means Not Working
Use no funciona when you want a plain, safe line. Mi cámara no funciona means “My camera doesn’t work.” It avoids choosing between averiada, descompuesta, and estropeada.
This is handy for learners because it fits many objects: phones, printers, lamps, apps, radios, clocks, and doors with faulty locks. It also sounds natural in messages, customer notes, and classroom writing.
When Broken Means Damaged But Still Usable
Not every broken item is useless. A cracked screen, torn page, chipped mug, or bent chair leg may still work. Spanish lets you be specific. Use agrietado for cracked, rasgado for torn, astillado for chipped, and doblado for bent.
That extra detail makes your Spanish sound cleaner. La pantalla está agrietada tells the reader more than La pantalla está rota. La hoja está rasgada says the page is torn, not smashed or faulty.
| Meaning You Need | Better Spanish | Why It Fits |
|---|---|---|
| Cracked screen | pantalla agrietada | The glass has cracks. |
| Torn paper | papel rasgado | The paper has a tear. |
| Faulty device | aparato averiado | The device does not work. |
| Interrupted call | llamada cortada | The call stopped suddenly. |
| Broken agreement | acuerdo incumplido | Someone failed to keep it. |
Spanish Sentence Patterns That Sound Natural
For “is broken,” use estar plus the adjective. The pattern is estar + roto/rota/rotos/rotas. Say El vaso está roto, La mesa está rota, and Los audífonos están rotos. This pattern describes the state of the thing now.
For “broke,” use romper when someone caused the damage. El niño rompió el juguete means “The boy broke the toy.” Use romperse when the thing broke without naming who caused it: El juguete se rompió.
For “has broken,” Spanish often chooses the past tense based on region and style. Se ha roto is common in Spain and formal writing. Se rompió is common across Latin America and in direct story telling. Both can be correct.
Useful Lines For Study And Travel
Here are clean sentence models you can reuse. La maleta está rota means “The suitcase is broken.” El cargador no funciona means “The charger doesn’t work.” La puerta se rompió means “The door broke.” Tengo el dedo fracturado means “I have a broken finger.”
For service desks, keep the line plain: Mi teléfono no funciona. For a repair shop, add detail: La pantalla está agrietada. For a school task, choose the word that names the damage, then use one short sample sentence to prove the meaning.
Choosing The Word Without Sounding Stiff
Natural translation is not about matching one English word to one Spanish word. It’s about matching the real situation. If the thing is snapped or torn, roto is often enough. If it stopped working, no funciona, averiado, or descompuesto will usually land better.
If the topic is the body, choose fracturado for clean writing and romperse for normal speech. If the topic is a promise, rule, plan, call, or link, step away from roto and choose a word that tells what failed.
A smart final check is to translate the whole phrase, not just “broken.” “Broken cup,” “broken phone,” “broken arm,” and “broken promise” do not behave the same way in Spanish. Once the phrase is clear, the word choice usually follows.
Use roto as your base, then swap it when the noun asks for something sharper. That one habit will make your Spanish sound smoother, more exact, and easier for native speakers to understand.