Lá em casa (arranjar, avariado)

When things break

wordmeaning
avariadobroken down (a machine)
arranjarto fix; to get hold of
funcionarto work, to function
The bedroom lamp doesn't work.
O candeeiro do quarto não funciona.

Avariado is for machines — the lift, the washing machine. Food that has gone bad is estragado, never avariado. Arranjar is the great EP fixer: you arranjas the lamp, but also arranjas emprego, arranjas tempo — fix, get, manage.

Around the house

o candeeiro — the lamp (the bulb is a lâmpada); o ferro — iron, the metal and the appliance: passar a ferro is to iron. colocar — to place; pegar em — to take hold of. o banho — the bath: tomar banho. And the person you call when the rent is due: o proprietário.

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