O desgaste estragou o carreto.

The wear damaged the sprocket.

Breakdown of O desgaste estragou o carreto.

• o: the
• estragar: to ruin
• o carreto: a sprocket or cog in a bicycle transmission
• o desgaste: wear caused by use or friction

Questions & Answers about O desgaste estragou o carreto.

Why is there o before both desgaste and carreto?

In Portuguese, nouns very often appear with an article when they refer to something specific.

• o desgaste = the wear / the wear and tear
• o carreto = the specific gear/pinion/reel part being talked about

English often drops the article in cases like wear damaged the gear, but Portuguese usually sounds more natural with the article here.

What tense is estragou?

Estragou is the pretérito perfeito of estragar, 3rd person singular.

That means it corresponds to:

• it damaged
• it ruined
• it broke
• it spoiled

depending on context.

Here the subject is o desgaste, so estragou means the wear damaged/ruined it.

How do I know that o desgaste is the subject?