Dos impagos empeoraron la morosidad.

Because the subject is Dos impagos, which is plural. In Spanish, the verb must agree with the subject:

• un impago empeoró
• dos impagos empeoraron

So empeoraron is the third-person plural preterite form of empeorar.

Impagos is the plural of impago, a noun meaning non-payment, missed payment, or unpaid debt/bill depending on context.

In financial or administrative Spanish, un impago is not just the act of not paying in general; it often refers to a specific unpaid obligation, such as an unpaid invoice, loan instalment, rent payment, or bill.

So dos impagos means two missed payments or two unpaid amounts.

They are related, but they are not the same thing.

• impago = a specific unpaid payment or debt
• morosidad = the state, rate, or problem of late payment/non-payment overall

So in this sentence:

• dos impagos are the individual events
• la morosidad is the broader financial situation that got worse

A useful way to think of it is:

• impago = an instance
• morosidad = the overall condition or level of payment default

Spanish often uses the definite article with abstract nouns more often than English does.

Here, la morosidad refers to the delinquency/default situation or the level of non-payment in a specific context, such as a company, sector, or account portfolio.

Even when English might say simply morosity/defaults got worse or delinquency worsened, Spanish commonly says la morosidad.

Yes. In this sentence, empeorar is being used transitively, meaning it has a direct object:

• Dos impagos = subject
• empeoraron = verb
• la morosidad = direct object

So the structure is basically:

Two missed payments worsened the delinquency/default situation.

This is useful because empeorar can also be intransitive:

• La morosidad empeoró.
  = The delinquency/default situation got worse.

So Spanish allows both:

• something empeora algo
• something empeora

Empeoraron is in the preterite because it presents the action as a completed event: the two missed payments worsened the situation.

The preterite is natural when you are reporting a result or a specific change.

If you used the imperfect, it would suggest background, repetition, or an ongoing past situation, which does not fit as well here.

Compare:

• Dos impagos empeoraron la morosidad.
  = a completed change happened

• Los impagos empeoraban la morosidad.
  = non-payments were worsening delinquency / used to worsen it

Normally, no. La morosidad sounds natural; empeoraron morosidad sounds incomplete or unidiomatic.

In Spanish, abstract nouns like this usually take the article in standard usage, especially when they refer to a known or relevant concept in the discussion.

So empeoraron la morosidad is the normal form.

It is common in financial, legal, banking, housing, and administrative contexts, but not especially casual everyday speech.

A native speaker would understand it, but it sounds more formal or technical than very everyday language.

You are likely to see it in contexts such as:

• bank reports
• debt collection
• rent arrears
• mortgage discussions
• business accounting
• news about the economy

No. Even though it may look like an English-related word, morosidad has to do with lateness in payment, default, or delinquency, not illness.

It comes from moroso/a, meaning someone who is late in paying or in arrears.

So in financial contexts:

• moroso = debtor in arrears / late payer
• morosidad = arrears, default rate, late-payment situation

Because grammatical gender belongs to each noun individually:

• el impago → masculine
• la morosidad → feminine

There is no rule that related financial words must share the same gender. This is just something you learn with each noun.

A useful tip is to memorize nouns with their article:

• el impago
• la morosidad

Sometimes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• empeoraron la morosidad = they made the delinquency/default situation worse
• aumentaron la morosidad = they increased the level/rate of delinquency/default

Both can work in financial contexts, but empeorar focuses on deterioration, while aumentar focuses more directly on quantity or level.

Another possible verb is agravaron, which sounds more formal and means made more serious.

Yes. Spanish word order is flexible, although the original sentence is perfectly normal.

Possible alternatives include:

• La morosidad empeoró por dos impagos.
• Por dos impagos, empeoró la morosidad.

These versions shift the focus:

• Dos impagos empeoraron la morosidad focuses first on the cause
• La morosidad empeoró... focuses first on the result

The original version is direct and clear, especially in reporting style.

In standard Peninsular Spanish, roughly:

dos im-PA-gos em-pe-o-RA-ron la mo-ro-si-DAD

Stress falls on:

• impagos → PA
• empeoraron → RA
• morosidad → DAD

A couple of pronunciation notes:

• In empeoraron, the sequence -e-o- is pronounced in separate syllables: em-pe-o-ra-ron
• In much of Spain, z and soft c have the th sound of English think, but there is no z/c in this sentence
• The d at the end of morosidad is usually softer than in English

No. Impago is the unpaid payment/debt itself, not the person.

The person is more likely to be described as:

• moroso = debtor in arrears / someone late with payments

So:

• un impago = an unpaid amount or missed payment
• un moroso = a person who has not paid on time

That distinction is very common in financial Spanish.