estaba mal

was wrong

→ estar
phrase Rare #29,840
was wrong Depending on the subject and context, it can also mean “was unwell” or “wasn’t working properly.”
SP: La puerta estaba mal cerrada.
EN: The door was improperly closed.

Tomás sabe que lo que hizo estaba mal.

Tomás knows that what he did was wrong.

Todo estaba mal.

Everything was wrong.

Mi frase estaba mal, pero la profesora la corrigió.

My sentence was wrong, but the teacher corrected it.

El anuncio estaba mal impreso.

The ad was printed incorrectly.

Puso como excusa que su reloj estaba mal.

He gave the excuse that his watch was faulty.

Sabía que algo estaba mal contigo.

I knew something was wrong with you.

— Ne Zha (2019)

El bebé estaba mal colocado.

The baby was in the wrong position.

— Los 400 golpes (1959)

El acta de infracción dice que el auto estaba mal estacionado.

The parking ticket says the car was parked illegally.

— Relatos salvajes (2014)

La recogí porque estaba mal.

I picked her up because she was sick.

— Todo sobre mi madre (1999)

Tom fingió no saber que lo que había hecho estaba mal.

Tom pretended not to know that what he had done was wrong.

La forma en que Tom hizo eso estaba mal.

The way Tom did that was wrong.

Mi frase estaba mal, pero el profesor la corrigió.

My sentence was wrong, but the teacher corrected it.