El cor funciona bé.

In Catalan, nouns are very often used with an article, even in cases where English might leave it out.

So el cor means the heart, and in a sentence like this it sounds natural and complete. Saying just cor would usually sound incomplete unless it appeared in a special context, such as a heading, label, or poetic style.

Catalan often uses the definite article with body parts when the owner is already clear from context.

So instead of saying my heart works well, Catalan will often say something closer to the heart works well, with the understanding that the relevant person's heart is meant.

This is very common with body parts:

• Em fa mal el cap = My head hurts / literally The head hurts me
• Té els ulls blaus = He/She has blue eyes / literally has the blue eyes blue

Cor means heart.

It can refer to:

• the physical organ
• emotions or affection, just like English heart

Examples:

• El cor funciona bé. = the physical heart is working well.
• Té un bon cor. = He/She has a good heart (kind personality).

Funciona is the third-person singular present tense of the verb funcionar.

That means it matches a singular subject such as:

• el cor = the heart
• la màquina = the machine
• això = that / this

So:

• El cor funciona bé. = The heart works well.

Other present-tense forms are:

• jo funciono = I function / work
• tu funciones = you function
• ell/ella funciona = he/she/it functions
• nosaltres funcionem = we function
• vosaltres funcioneu = you all function
• ells/elles funcionen = they function

Catalan usually does not use a subject pronoun when the subject is already clear.

In English, you must say It works well.
In Catalan, if the subject is already named, you simply say:

• El cor funciona bé.

Even without a pronoun, the verb form helps identify the subject. Catalan is a pro-drop language, like Spanish or Italian.

Because bé is an adverb, while bo / bona is an adjective.

Here, bé modifies the verb funciona and tells you how it works:

• funciona bé = works well

Compare:

• un bon cor = a good heart → adjective describing the noun
• el cor funciona bé = the heart works well → adverb describing the verb

This is the same kind of difference as English good vs well.

The stress falls on bé itself, on the only syllable: bé.

The written accent marks the vowel as stressed and also helps distinguish it from other words. In Catalan, written accents often show:

• where the stress falls
• sometimes the vowel quality

So bé is pronounced as a stressed word meaning well.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation is:

el kor foon-see-OH-nuh bay

A bit more naturally:

• el = like el with a light vowel
• cor = roughly kor
• funciona = foon-see-OH-nə in many accents
• bé = bay

The main stress is on:

• -o- in funciona
• bé

So the rhythm is roughly:
el COR fun-ci-O-na BÉ

It is more natural in Catalan than to function often is in everyday English.

In English, the heart functions well is correct, but many people would more naturally say the heart is working well. In Catalan, funcionar is very normal and common in everyday speech for organs, machines, systems, plans, and so on.

Examples:

• La màquina funciona bé. = The machine works well.
• Això no funciona. = This doesn’t work.
• El tractament funciona. = The treatment works.

So in this sentence, funciona bé sounds completely natural.

Yes, but El cor funciona bé is the most neutral and standard order.

Catalan usually follows subject + verb + adverb/complement here:

• El cor = subject
• funciona = verb
• bé = adverb

You might sometimes hear other orders for emphasis, such as:

• Funciona bé, el cor? = Is the heart working well?
• Bé no funciona. = It’s not working well. (emphatic/contrastive)

But for a basic statement, El cor funciona bé is the normal choice.

Not with the same meaning.

• funciona bé means works well / is functioning properly
• està bé usually means is fine / is okay

So:

• El cor funciona bé. = The heart is functioning properly.
• El cor està bé. = The heart is okay / in good condition.

These are similar, but funciona bé focuses more on the heart’s operation, while està bé is broader and more general.

You usually put no before the verb:

• El cor no funciona bé. = The heart isn’t working well.

This is the standard way to negate a sentence in Catalan.

You can do it mainly with intonation in speech:

• El cor funciona bé? = Is the heart working well?

In writing, the question mark is enough. Catalan does not require a special word order change like English Does the heart work well?

So the statement and the question can have the same word order:

• El cor funciona bé.
• El cor funciona bé?