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averiar

to break down

verb ah-beh-RYAHR Rare

Also means

to malfunction

Usage Note

Averiar means to damage or cause to malfunction, but it is almost always used reflexively: averiarse ('to break down'). The seed lists it as adjective, which is incorrect — it is a verb (averiar/averiarse), and averiado is the past participle used as an adjective ('broken down, out of order'). The stress falls on the i in most conjugated forms (avería, averías), making it a spelling-accent verb like enviar.

Examples

"El ascensor se averió y tuvimos que subir a pie."

Natural Translation

The lift broke down and we had to walk up.

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