Roto vs. Descompuesto

Question

Hello. Today at work I was writing down some random Spanish sentences, and bringing them to my Mexican workmates for approval when I wrote down this: "Mi carro no sirve porque esta roto". I was told that the proper way to say that is "Mi carro no sirve porque esta descompuesto." On looking up, descomponer means to decompose....which way do you think is more widely used? Is the first way wrong and the second way right? Gracias por su tiempo. Also, is that box at the bottom supposed to be accent marks? It looks like a box full of this: áéíóúñ¿¡ in Opera browser so I apologize for the lack of accents.

Answer 1

Excellent question. "Descomponer" is commonly used for a breakdown of machinery.

Answer 2

Both sentences are correct. You can say "Mi auto está roto" or "Mi auto está despuesto"... perfectly fine!

Answer 3

I'm not sure what the answer to your question is. Someone will come along soon with the answer, I'm sure.

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