El precinto está roto.

Precinto is a masculine noun that usually means a seal, tamper seal, security seal, or official seal placed on something so you can tell whether it has been opened or interfered with.

In Spain, it is commonly used for things like:

• packaging seals
• security seals on meters or containers
• official seals placed by authorities

So in this sentence, it refers to the seal itself, not the object being sealed.

Because precinto is a masculine noun in Spanish, so it takes el in the singular:

• el precinto
• los precintos

There is no obvious ending rule here that helps much, so this is mainly something you learn with the noun.

It uses está because the sentence describes the current state or condition of the seal: it is broken.

In Spanish, estar + adjective/participle is often used for states or results:

• La puerta está abierta.
• El vaso está vacío.
• El precinto está roto.

Using es roto would sound wrong here. Ser is not normally used for this kind of physical condition.

Because the verb romper has an irregular past participle/adjective: roto.

So:

• infinitive: romper
• participle/adjective: roto

Spanish does not use rompido in standard modern usage for this meaning.

You will see the same form both:

1. as an adjective of state

   • El precinto está roto.

2. in perfect tenses

   • He roto el precinto. = I have broken the seal.

Because roto agrees with precinto, which is masculine singular.

Agreement changes like this:

• el precinto está roto
• la caja está rota
• los precintos están rotos
• las cajas están rotas

So the ending changes to match the noun being described.

In this sentence, it works as an adjective describing the condition of the seal.

Even though roto comes from the verb romper, in está roto it means broken as a resulting state.

A useful way to think of it is:

• romper = to break
• roto = broken

So El precinto está roto is structurally like:

• La puerta está cerrada
• La ventana está abierta

Yes, but it means something slightly different in focus.

• El precinto está roto = the seal is broken
  
  • focuses on the current condition
• El precinto se ha roto = the seal has broken / has become broken
  
  • focuses more on the event or change

If you are simply describing what you see now, está roto is usually the most natural choice.

Yes. It sounds natural, especially in contexts involving packaging, security, shipping, inspections, or official seals.

Depending on the situation, people might also use other words such as:

• sello
• cierre
• precinto de seguridad

But El precinto está roto is perfectly normal Spanish from Spain.

Yes, but the normal neutral order is:

• El precinto está roto.

You might sometimes hear:

• Está roto el precinto.

That version sounds more marked or context-driven, as if the speaker is emphasizing the condition first or responding to something just noticed. For a learner, the standard order is the safest choice.

In standard Peninsular Spanish, it is pronounced roughly as:

• preh-THEEN-toh

A few notes:

• the c before i is pronounced like th in much of Spain
• the stress is on cin: pre-cin-to
• r is a light tap here, not a strong rolled rr

If you are learning Spain Spanish, that th sound is the expected pronunciation.

Yes: English broken can describe either:

1. the state

   • it is broken

2. a more general quality

   • a broken machine, a broken promise, broken English

In Spanish, the best translation depends on the context. Here, for a physical seal in a current condition, está roto is exactly the natural choice.

But Spanish does not always map one-to-one with English broken in every context, so it is good to learn the whole pattern:

• estar roto for a physical object that is broken
• other expressions may be used in other contexts depending on meaning

You would make both the article, the verb, and the adjective plural:

• Los precintos están rotos.

Changes:

• el → los
• está → están
• roto → rotos

Spanish agreement is very important, so all those elements need to match the plural noun.