averiarse
to be broken
The Spanish word 'averiarse' translates to 'to be broken' in English. This term is often used in the context of machinery, electronic devices, vehicles, or essentially any technical equipment that has stopped functioning properly. For instance, if a car stops working due to some mechanical problem, the Spanish phrase 'El coche se ha averiado' would be used, which means 'The car has broken down' in English. However, it's not usually applied to describe people or living beings.
Example sentences using: averiarse
El coche podría averiarse si no le cambiamos el aceite a tiempo.
The car could break down if we don't change the oil in time.
In this sentence, 'averiarse' is used to refer to a car potentially breaking down due to lack of timely oil change. The sentence expresses a hypothetical situation hence the use of 'podría', meaning 'could'.
Si el ordenador se avería, pierdo todos mis archivos.
If the computer breaks down, I lose all my files.
Here, 'averiarse' refers to a computer breaking down. The sentence expresses the consequence (losing all files) of the computer breaking down, using 'si' to introduce the condition.
Nuestro avión se averió y tuvimos que aterrizar de emergencia.
Our plane broke down and we had to make an emergency landing.
In this context, 'averiarse' is describing the malfunction of an airplane which required an emergency landing. 'Tuvimos que' translates to 'we had to', indicating the necessitated action following the malfunction.