Quan la impressora no va, necessito una fotocòpia.

a

Breakdown of Quan la impressora no va, necessito una fotocòpia.

• no: not
• necessitar: to need
• quan: when

Questions & Answers about Quan la impressora no va, necessito una fotocòpia.

Why does va mean works here? I thought va meant goes.

That is a very common question.

In Catalan, the verb anar normally means to go, and va is the he/she/it form of the present tense:

• va = goes

But in everyday Catalan, anar is also used in expressions about how something is functioning:

• La impressora va bé = The printer works well
• La impressora no va = The printer doesn’t work

So in this sentence, no va means is not working or doesn’t work, not literal movement.

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Could I say no funciona instead of no va?

Yes. Both are natural, but they are slightly different in tone.

• La impressora no va = very common, everyday speech
• La impressora no funciona = also correct, a bit more explicit

Native speakers often use no va for machines, devices, apps, systems, and similar things.

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What does Quan mean, and why doesn’t it have an accent?