El teléfono está dañado.

Because Spanish uses two verbs for to be: ser and estar.

• ser is usually for identity, origin, permanent characteristics, and definitions.
• estar is usually for states, conditions, locations, and how something is at the moment.

In El teléfono está dañado, dañado describes the phone’s current condition, so estar is the natural choice.

• El teléfono está dañado = the phone is damaged
• El teléfono es dañado would sound wrong in normal Spanish for this meaning

A useful shortcut is:

• ser + adjective often describes what something is like by nature
• estar + adjective/past participle often describes the state it is in

Here, dañado means damaged.

It comes from the verb dañar, meaning to damage. In this sentence, dañado is functioning like an adjective, describing the condition of the phone.

So:

• dañar = to damage
• dañado = damaged

You can think of está dañado as is damaged or is broken/damaged, depending on context.

It is originally a past participle of dañar, but in this sentence it works adjectivally.

That is very common in Spanish. Many past participles can be used as adjectives after estar:

• está cerrado = it is closed
• está roto = it is broken
• está dañado = it is damaged

So the grammatical label can be explained both ways, but for a learner the important point is:

• it agrees like an adjective
• it describes a state or condition

Spanish often uses the definite article more than English does.

So where English might sometimes say:

• Phone is damaged in a short note or headline style

Spanish normally says:

• El teléfono está dañado

In a full normal sentence, Spanish usually wants the article with a noun like this:

• el teléfono = the phone

Leaving out el would usually sound incomplete in standard speech.

Because teléfono is a masculine noun, so it takes el.

Most nouns ending in -o are masculine, and teléfono follows that common pattern:

• el teléfono
• un teléfono

Its gender also affects any adjectives that need to agree with it:

• El teléfono está dañado
• not El teléfono está dañada

Because it must agree with teléfono, which is masculine singular.

Spanish adjectives often change form to match the noun’s gender and number:

• masculine singular: dañado
• feminine singular: dañada
• masculine plural: dañados
• feminine plural: dañadas

Examples:

• El teléfono está dañado = The phone is damaged
• La pantalla está dañada = The screen is damaged
• Los teléfonos están dañados = The phones are damaged

They show which syllable is stressed.

• teléfono is stressed on lé: te-LÉ-fo-no
• está is stressed on the last syllable: es-TÁ

Without the written accent, the stress would follow normal Spanish spelling rules and the words would be pronounced differently.

So the accents are not optional decoration; they tell you how the word is pronounced.

In Spain, dañado is pronounced roughly like da-NYA-do.

The key sound is ñ, which is like:

• the ny in canyon
• or the ni sound in onion, depending on accent

So:

• n = normal n
• ñ = a softer ny sound

Also, the d between vowels in Spanish is often softer than English d.

A rough learner-friendly pronunciation for the whole sentence is:

el te-LÉ-fo-no es-TÁ da-NYA-do

Normally, no. For the basic meaning the phone is damaged, Spanish says:

• El teléfono está dañado

If you want a true passive meaning like the phone is damaged by the technician or by the fall, Spanish more often uses:

• El teléfono fue dañado por... = The phone was damaged by...
• El teléfono ha sido dañado por... = The phone has been damaged by...
• El teléfono está dañado = The phone is in a damaged state

So está dañado focuses on the resulting condition, not mainly on the action.

Yes, sometimes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• dañado = damaged
• roto = broken

Roto usually suggests something is actually broken and not functioning properly.
Dañado is broader: it could be scratched, dented, harmed, or broken.

So:

• El teléfono está dañado = The phone is damaged
• El teléfono está roto = The phone is broken

If you are not sure how serious the damage is, dañado is the safer, more general word.

Yes, but El teléfono está dañado is the most neutral and standard order.

Spanish can sometimes change word order for emphasis:

• Está dañado el teléfono

That might sound more marked, literary, or context-dependent, like emphasizing the condition first.

For everyday learning, use:

• El teléfono está dañado

It is the clearest and most natural default sentence.

To make it negative, put no before the verb:

• El teléfono no está dañado = The phone is not damaged

To make it a question, Spanish can use the same word order, with question marks in writing and question intonation in speech:

• ¿El teléfono está dañado? = Is the phone damaged?

You could also ask more naturally in conversation:

• ¿Está dañado el teléfono?

Both are correct, but the first one is especially easy for learners to recognize and build.

You need to change the article, the noun, the verb, and the adjective so they all match:

• El teléfono está dañado = The phone is damaged
• Los teléfonos están dañados = The phones are damaged

Changes:

• el → los
• teléfono → teléfonos
• está → están
• dañado → dañados

This is a good example of agreement working across the whole sentence.