המצבר לא עובד.

A natural pronunciation is:

ha-matz-BER lo o-VED

More closely:

• המצבר = ha-matzber
• לא = lo
• עובד = oved

The main stress is usually on the last syllable of מצבר and עובד:

• matzBER
• oVED

If you want the fully pointed form, it is:

הַמַּצְבֵּר לֹא עוֹבֵד

The ה is the Hebrew definite article, meaning the.

So:

• מצבר = a battery / battery
• המצבר = the battery

Unlike English, Hebrew attaches the directly to the word instead of writing it as a separate word.

Because Hebrew usually does not use a present-tense form of to be.

In English, you might expect something like:

• The battery is not working

In Hebrew, you simply say:

• המצבר לא עובד

Literally, it is closer to:

• the-battery not working

This is completely normal Hebrew.

לא is the standard word used to negate verbs.

So:

• עובד = works / is working
• לא עובד = doesn’t work / isn’t working

A common learner question is why not use אין. The reason is:

• לא negates verbs
• אין is usually used for there is not / there are not / do not have

So here, because עובד is a verb, לא is the correct choice.

Because it agrees with המצבר, and מצבר is a masculine singular noun.

In Hebrew, present-tense verb forms often look like participles and agree in gender and number with the subject.

So:

• masculine singular: עובד
• feminine singular: עובדת
• masculine plural: עובדים
• feminine plural: עובדות

Since המצבר is masculine singular, עובד is the correct form.

Not exactly.

מצבר usually means a car battery or storage battery / accumulator. In everyday speech, it often refers specifically to the battery in a vehicle.

A more general word for a battery, especially a small battery like AA or a phone battery, is often:

• סוללה

So a learner should know that המצבר לא עובד sounds especially natural for something like the car battery isn’t working.

Yes, absolutely.

עובד can mean:

• works = is employed / is doing work
• works = functions / operates

For objects and machines, Hebrew often uses עובד the same way English uses works:

• המחשב עובד = the computer works / is working
• המנוע לא עובד = the engine doesn’t work
• המצבר לא עובד = the battery doesn’t work

So this use is very normal.

Yes. המצבר לא פועל is also possible and means roughly the battery isn’t functioning / operating.

The difference is small:

• עובד is very common and natural in everyday speech
• פועל can sound a little more like functions / operates

In many contexts, both are fine. For everyday spoken Hebrew, לא עובד is extremely common.

This is the normal and straightforward Hebrew order:

subject + לא + verb

So:

• המצבר = the subject
• לא = negation
• עובד = the verb

This is the most natural way to say The battery doesn’t work.

Hebrew can sometimes vary word order for emphasis, but for a simple neutral statement, this order is standard.

It can mean either, depending on context.

המצבר לא עובד can mean:

• The battery doesn’t work
  or
• The battery isn’t working

Hebrew present tense often covers both the simple present and the present progressive that English separates.

Context tells you which one is meant.

Then the present-tense form would change to agree with the feminine noun:

• הסוללה לא עובדת

Compare:

• המצבר לא עובד — masculine singular
• הסוללה לא עובדת — feminine singular

This is a very important Hebrew pattern: present-tense forms agree with gender and number.

Yes. It is short, natural, and completely normal.

Hebrew often prefers compact sentences, especially in everyday speech. A native speaker would readily say:

• המצבר לא עובד
• האוטו לא מניע, המצבר לא עובד
• נראה לי שהמצבר לא עובד

So even though it is very short, it is a full and natural sentence.