Ο υπολογιστής σταματάει να δουλεύει όταν δεν έχει ίντερνετ.

The computer stops working when there is no internet.

Breakdown of Ο υπολογιστής σταματάει να δουλεύει όταν δεν έχει ίντερνετ.

• έχω: to have
• δεν: not
• να: to
• δουλεύω: to work
• όταν: when
• ο υπολογιστής: the computer
• το ίντερνετ: the internet
• σταματάω: to stop

Questions & Answers about Ο υπολογιστής σταματάει να δουλεύει όταν δεν έχει ίντερνετ.

Why do we say Ο υπολογιστής with the article Ο? In English we would just say “A computer” or “The computer” for a general statement.

In Greek, the definite article (ο, η, το) is usually used even when English would use no article or “a/an” in general statements.

• Ο υπολογιστής σταματάει να δουλεύει όταν δεν έχει ίντερνετ.
  = The computer stops working when it doesn’t have internet.
  But the meaning is “a computer / computers in general behave like this.”

Greek often uses the definite article to talk about things in general:

• Ο σκύλος είναι πιστός. = Dogs are faithful.
• Η μουσική με χαλαρώνει. = Music relaxes me.

So Ο υπολογιστής here is not one specific computer; it’s a general statement about what typically happens with computers.

Why is υπολογιστής masculine? The word “computer” in English has no gender.

Greek nouns have grammatical gender, which can be masculine, feminine, or neuter, and this is mostly arbitrary from an English speaker’s point of view.

• υπολογιστής ends in -ής, a very common ending for masculine nouns.
• That’s why it takes the masculine article ο:
  ο υπολογιστής (the computer)

You just need to learn each noun along with its article:

• ο υπολογιστής (masc.) – the computer
• η οθόνη (fem.) – the screen
• το πληκτρολόγιο (neuter) – the keyboard

What’s the difference between σταματάει and σταματά? I’ve seen both.

Both σταματάει and σταματά are correct; they are just two forms of the same verb in the 3rd person singular present.

The verb is σταματάω / σταματώ = to stop.

In the present tense, 3rd person singular can be:

• σταματάει – slightly more colloquial / spoken
• σταματά – a bit shorter, often found in writing but also used in speech

So you can say:

• Ο υπολογιστής σταματάει να δουλεύει…
• Ο υπολογιστής σταματά να δουλεύει…

In everyday speech, σταματάει is very common. Both are perfectly acceptable.

Why do we need να before δουλεύει? Can I just say σταματάει δουλεύει?

You must use να here. In modern Greek, να introduces a kind of verb form usually called the subjunctive or simply a “να-clause.”

After many verbs like θέλω (I want), πρέπει (must), μπορώ (I can), σταματάω (I stop doing something), you need να + verb:

• Θέλω να δουλεύω. – I want to work.
• Μπορεί να έρθει. – He may come.
• Σταματάει να δουλεύει. – It stops working.

Without να, δουλεύει would start a new, independent clause, which doesn’t fit here. σταματάει να δουλεύει is one unit: “stops (the activity of) working”.

Why is it να δουλεύει and not να δουλέψει?

Greek has a strong aspect distinction: imperfective vs perfective.

• δουλεύει = imperfective (ongoing / repeated action)
• δουλέψει = perfective (single, completed action)

σταματάει να δουλεύει uses the imperfective:

• It means “stops working / stops being in a working state.”
• We focus on the ongoing activity of working (which is being interrupted).

σταματάει να δουλέψει could be used in other contexts and would tend to mean:

• “he stops in order to work / so that he can work (once)”, depending on context.
  It sounds more like a deliberate action toward a one‑time event.

So with the computer, we want the idea of continuous functioning, so να δουλεύει (imperfective) is the natural choice.

Does σταματάει να δουλεύει mean “stops working” or “stops to work”? English has both.

σταματάει να δουλεύει means “stops working” (ceases to work), not “stops to work”.

• Ο υπολογιστής σταματάει να δουλεύει…
  = The computer stops working…

If you wanted to say “He stops (what he is doing) in order to work”, you would say something like:

• Σταματάει για να δουλέψει. – He stops in order to work.
• Σταματάει αυτό που κάνει για να δουλέψει. – He stops what he’s doing to work.

So:

• σταματάει να δουλεύει → ceases working
• σταματάει για να δουλέψει → stops (something else) in order to work

Can I change the word order? For example, can I put the όταν-clause first?

Yes. Greek word order is fairly flexible, especially with clauses introduced by words like όταν.

All of these are correct and natural:

• Ο υπολογιστής σταματάει να δουλεύει όταν δεν έχει ίντερνετ.
• Όταν δεν έχει ίντερνετ, ο υπολογιστής σταματάει να δουλεύει.

If you put the όταν-clause first, you normally add a comma:

• Όταν δεν έχει ίντερνετ, (pause) ο υπολογιστής…

You can also place όταν δεν έχει ίντερνετ in the middle:

• Ο υπολογιστής, όταν δεν έχει ίντερνετ, σταματάει να δουλεύει.

The basic meaning stays the same; changes in order just affect emphasis.

What’s the difference between όταν and αν? Could I say αν δεν έχει ίντερνετ?

• όταν = when (whenever)
• αν = if

In your sentence:

• όταν δεν έχει ίντερνετ = when it doesn’t have internet / whenever it lacks internet
  This sounds like a regular, predictable situation.

If you say:

• αν δεν έχει ίντερνετ, ο υπολογιστής σταματάει να δουλεύει.
  = If it doesn’t have internet, the computer stops working.

This is also grammatically correct and very natural. It puts a bit more focus on the condition (if this happens, then that happens), while όταν feels more like a general “whenever that situation occurs”.

In many real-life sentences, όταν and αν can both be used with only a small nuance difference.

Why is there no article before ίντερνετ? Why not το ίντερνετ?

ίντερνετ is a foreign, indeclinable noun used a lot like “internet” in English:

• In this sentence, it is used as a kind of mass / uncountable concept:
  δεν έχει ίντερνετ = it doesn’t have internet (connection).

In such cases, Greek usually omits the article, like English does with words such as water, money:

• Δεν έχει νερό. – It doesn’t have water.
• Δεν έχει ίντερνετ. – It doesn’t have internet.

You can say το ίντερνετ when you treat it more as a specific “thing”:

• Το ίντερνετ είναι αργό σήμερα. – The internet is slow today.

Here the focus is on having any internet connection at all, so no article is natural: δεν έχει ίντερνετ.

Why do we say δεν έχει ίντερνετ and not something like δεν είναι στο ίντερνετ?

δεν έχει ίντερνετ literally means “it doesn’t have internet.”
This is the most common and neutral way to say that there is no internet connection available.

Other possibilities exist, but they have slightly different nuances:

• δεν είναι συνδεδεμένος στο ίντερνετ – it is not connected to the internet
• δεν είναι στο ίντερνετ – can mean “he/she/it is not online / not on the internet”

For a computer that simply has no connection, people most often say:

• Δεν έχει ίντερνετ.
  or
• Δεν πιάνει ίντερνετ. – It doesn’t get internet (signal).

So the sentence uses the most natural everyday expression.

Does δουλεύει mean “works” or “is working”? How do I know?

In Greek, the simple present (like δουλεύει) covers both English:

• “works” (simple present) and
• “is working” (present continuous)

So:

• Ο υπολογιστής δουλεύει.
  can mean:
  • The computer works / functions (in general).
  • The computer is working (right now).

The exact meaning comes from context. In your sentence:

• σταματάει να δουλεύει
  clearly means “stops working / stops functioning” — we’re talking about the process or state of functioning, not a habitual job.

Greek doesn’t have a separate continuous form like “is working”; it uses context and sometimes adverbs (e.g. τώρα, now) to clarify.