O telemóvel está avariado.

The cell phone is broken.

Breakdown of O telemóvel está avariado.

• estar: to be
• o telemóvel: the cell phone
• avariado: broken

Questions & Answers about O telemóvel está avariado.

Why do we use O before telemóvel instead of just saying Telemóvel está avariado?

Portuguese normally requires a definite article before singular countable nouns, so O telemóvel is more natural than omitting O.

• You’ll hear this in most spoken and written contexts.
• In headlines or very informal notes, newspapers sometimes drop the article (“Telemóvel avariado atrasa…”), but that’s an exception, not the rule.

What’s the difference between telemóvel and telefone in Portuguese (Portugal)?

• Telemóvel: a mobile or cell phone (portable).
• Telefone: usually refers to a landline or the general concept of “telephone.”
  In Brazil they say celular instead of telemóvel, but in Portugal telemóvel is the standard word for your mobile device.

Why is the verb está used here instead of é?

Portuguese has two verbs for “to be”:

• Ser (é) describes permanent or defining characteristics.
• Estar (está) describes temporary states or conditions.
  A broken phone is a state you expect to be fixed later, so you say está avariado, not é avariado.

Is avariado functioning as an adjective? Does it change with gender and number?

Yes. Avariado is technically the past participle of the verb avariar, but here it’s used adjectivally. It agrees with the noun:

• Masculine singular: avariado (O telemóvel está avariado)
• Feminine singular: avariada (A máquina está avariada)
• Plural: avariados, avariadas

Are there other ways to say something is broken, like synonyms for avariado or using the noun avaria?

Yes. Common alternatives:

• Adjectives: estragado, com defeito, colloquially partido (more “physically smashed”).
• Noun avaria: o telemóvel tem uma avaria (“the phone has a breakdown”).
• You can also say o telemóvel está com uma avaria (“is with a fault/defect”).

How do you pronounce telemóvel and avariado in European Portuguese?

Telemóvel

• IPA: [tɨlɛˈmɔvɛɫ]
• Approximation: tuh-leh-MOH-vel

Avariado

• IPA: [avaɾiˈaðu]
• Approximation: ah-vah-ree-AH-doo

How would I say “My phone is broken” instead of “The phone is broken”?

Insert your possessive after the article:
O meu telemóvel está avariado.
Structure: O + meu + telemóvel + está avariado.

How can I ask Can you fix the phone? in Portuguese?

Common polite requests include:

• Pode consertar o telemóvel?
• Consegue reparar o meu telemóvel avariado?
• Pode arranjar o telemóvel?
  All three use verbs (consertar, reparar, arranjar) meaning “to fix/repair.”