El móvil puede estropearse si cae al suelo.

The mobile phone can get damaged if it falls on the floor.

Breakdown of El móvil puede estropearse si cae al suelo.

• al: to the
• poder: can
• el móvil: the mobile phone
• si: if

Questions & Answers about El móvil puede estropearse si cae al suelo.

Why does the sentence use móvil?

In Spain, el móvil is the normal everyday word for mobile phone / cell phone.

• el móvil = common in Spain
• el celular = common in much of Latin America
• el teléfono móvil = more formal or full version

So El móvil puede estropearse... sounds very natural in Spain.

What does puede mean here, and why is it in the present tense?

Puede is the 3rd person singular of poder and here it means can / may / might in the sense of it can happen.

So:

• El móvil puede estropearse = The phone can get damaged / The phone might break

The present tense is normal because Spanish often uses the present for general truths or possibilities:

• El hielo se derrite con calor = Ice melts with heat
• El móvil puede estropearse si cae al suelo = A phone can get damaged if it falls on the ground

Why is it estropearse and not just estropear?