Which one should you use?
While no funciona can be translated as "it is not working" (the present continuous state), Spanish uses this simple present tense form to express the ongoing state of a malfunction.
Is it said differently in some regions?
Several regional variations exist: in Spain, you might hear no va. In Venezuela, people often say no agarra. And in Argentina, the slang expression no funca is used.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase no funciona uses the third-person singular form of the verb funcionar to indicate that a single object is not working. If you need to say that multiple machines or systems are not working, use the plural form no funcionan.
How do you pronounce it?
/no funθjona/
What mistakes should you avoid?
Avoid translating "is not working" literally as no está funcionando. While this is grammatically possible, no funciona is much more natural when describing a broken device.
Did you know?
- When a system no funciona due to a sudden crash or failure, Spanish speakers may use the word colgarse, which literally means 'to hang oneself'.
- In some Spanish-speaking contexts, describing a person as no funciona can be an insulting way to imply they are mentally incompetent or 'not all there'.
- In various dialects, if a machine no funciona because it is stuck, speakers might say it is trabado, using a word that shares the same root as 'work' (trabajo).
Examples in context
- El reloj no funciona.The clock is not working.Tatoeba #642346 by Leono, translation #5378207 by CC
- El ascensor no funcionaba.The elevator was not working.Tatoeba #4492770 by rsarias, translation #8232288 by DonTae
- Este computador ya no funciona.This computer is already not working.Tatoeba #5485288 by baudelaire, translation #5487781 by Mar1L
- Mi teléfono no anda.My phone is not working.
- María está sin chamba.María is without a job.
- El servicio de internet no está funcionando correctamente.The internet service is not working properly.
- La impresora no sirve.The printer doesn't work.
- 6 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Sofía and Daniel are at home trying to watch television.
- SofíaDaniel, la televisión no funciona.Daniel, the television is not working.
- DanielDéjame ver qué pasa.Let me see what is happening.
- Sofía¿Es el cable?Is it the cable?
- DanielNo, creo que el control no funciona.No, I think the remote is not working.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
