Se a fotocopiadora falhar, a bibliotecária deixa-nos digitalizar tudo no scanner do escritório.

After se when talking about a possible future situation, Portuguese normally uses the future subjunctive.

So:

• Se a fotocopiadora falhar = If the photocopier fails / if the photocopier should fail

For many regular -ar verbs, the future subjunctive form looks exactly like the infinitive, so falhar here is not just an infinitive: it is the future subjunctive.

Compare:

• Quando ele chegar, ligamos-te. = When he arrives, we’ll call you.
• Se chover, ficamos em casa. = If it rains, we’ll stay at home.

Using falha here would sound wrong in standard Portuguese for this kind of future condition.

Here falhar means something like:

• to fail
• to stop working properly
• to malfunction
• to let someone down in other contexts

In this sentence, a fotocopiadora falhar means the photocopier does not work when needed.

Examples:

• O motor falhou. = The engine failed.
• A internet está a falhar. = The internet is acting up / failing.

In Portuguese, definite articles are used much more often than in English.

So:

• a fotocopiadora = the photocopier
• a bibliotecária = the librarian

Portuguese often uses the article before common nouns even where English might be less article-heavy.

Also, fotocopiadora and bibliotecária are feminine singular nouns, so they take a.

Deixa-nos is:

• deixa = (she) lets / allows
• nos = us

So deixa-nos literally means lets us.

This is a very common structure:

• deixar + someone + infinitive

Examples:

• Ela deixa-nos entrar. = She lets us come in.
• O professor deixa-os sair mais cedo. = The teacher lets them leave earlier.

In European Portuguese, object pronouns are very often attached to the verb with a hyphen. This is called enclisis.

So:

• deixa-nos = lets us

In affirmative main clauses, European Portuguese normally prefers this attached form.

Compare:

• Ajuda-me. = Help me.
• Viram-nos ontem. = They saw us yesterday.

This is one of the things that often looks more distinctively European Portuguese.

In European Portuguese, deixa-nos is the normal choice here.

Nos deixa sounds much more like Brazilian Portuguese word order, and in European Portuguese it would usually not be the standard form in this sentence.

So for Portugal Portuguese, learn:

• A bibliotecária deixa-nos digitalizar tudo.

There are contexts in European Portuguese where the pronoun comes before the verb, but that usually happens because something triggers it, such as:

• não: A bibliotecária não nos deixa digitalizar tudo.
• certain subordinate structures
• some adverbs or relative words

But in a plain affirmative clause like this one, deixa-nos is the expected form.

After deixar meaning to let/allow, Portuguese uses the infinitive for the action that is allowed.

So:

• deixa-nos digitalizar tudo = lets us scan everything

This is similar to English:

• She lets us scan everything

Other examples:

• Deixam-me usar o computador. = They let me use the computer.
• O chefe deixou-nos sair cedo. = The boss let us leave early.

Usually yes, in this kind of context.

Literally, digitalizar means to digitise / to make digital, but when talking about paper documents and a scanner, it naturally means to scan.

So:

• digitalizar documentos = to scan documents

Depending on context, it can also mean to convert into digital form more generally.

Tudo means everything.

It is used when you mean all things in general, not a specific plural noun.

So:

• digitalizar tudo = to scan everything

By contrast, todos / todas is used with a noun or when the items are understood as a plural group:

• todos os documentos = all the documents
• todas as páginas = all the pages

So here:

• tudo = everything
• todos would not fit on its own in the same way

No is a contraction of:

• em + o = no

So:

• no scanner = in/on the scanner

Portuguese very often contracts em with the definite article:

• em + a = na
• em + o = no
• em + as = nas
• em + os = nos

Examples:

• na biblioteca = in the library
• no escritório = in the office

Here scanner is masculine, so em o scanner becomes no scanner.

Do is the contraction of:

• de + o = do

So:

• o scanner do escritório = the office’s scanner / the scanner from the office / more naturally the scanner in the office

It shows that the scanner belongs to or is associated with the office.

Other examples:

• a porta do carro = the car door
• o computador do professor = the teacher’s computer

Portuguese, like English, uses plenty of loanwords, especially for technology and office equipment.

In European Portuguese, scanner is widely used and easily understood.

You may also come across more formal or technical alternatives in some contexts, but scanner is very common in everyday language.

A learner should simply recognize that not every common Portuguese word has to look traditionally Romance.

Yes, it is standard and natural here.

The sentence begins with a conditional clause:

• Se a fotocopiadora falhar, ...

When that kind of clause comes first, Portuguese normally separates it from the main clause with a comma.

So the structure is:

• If X happens, Y happens.

This matches standard punctuation in English too.

A few useful pronunciation points:

• Se is usually a short suh / sih-like sound depending on context.
• fotocopiadora has stress on a in -do-ra: fo-to-co-pi-a-DO-ra
• bibliotecária has stress on -tá-: bi-blio-te-CÁ-ri-a
• deixa-nos often sounds quite connected in fast speech
• escritório has stress on tó: es-cri-TÓ-ri-o

Also, in European Portuguese, many unstressed vowels are reduced, so words often sound less fully pronounced than an English speaker might expect from the spelling.

Yes, if the subject is already clear from context, Portuguese often omits it:

• Se a fotocopiadora falhar, deixa-nos digitalizar tudo no scanner do escritório.

That would mean:

• If the photocopier fails, she lets us scan everything on the office scanner.

But including a bibliotecária makes the sentence clearer, especially if this is being presented on its own.

Portuguese often drops subject pronouns like ela, but keeping a full noun phrase such as a bibliotecária is common when you want to identify exactly who is doing the action.

Yes, fotocopiadora is a normal and clear word for photocopier / copy machine.

Depending on context, people might also refer to the machine in slightly different ways, but fotocopiadora is standard and very understandable in European Portuguese.

It is built from:

• foto- = photo
• cópia = copy

So the meaning is quite transparent once you get used to Portuguese spelling.

The structure is:

• Se + future subjunctive, main clause in the present

So:

• Se a fotocopiadora falhar, a bibliotecária deixa-nos digitalizar tudo no scanner do escritório.

This is a very common Portuguese pattern for real or likely future situations:

• Se eu tiver tempo, vou contigo. = If I have time, I’ll go with you.
• Se eles chegarem cedo, jantamos juntos. = If they arrive early, we’ll have dinner together.

The main clause here uses the present tense deixa, which can express a habitual or general result:

• If the photocopier fails, the librarian lets us...

So the sentence can sound like a general rule or usual arrangement, not just a one-time future event.