Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Spanish grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Mi ventilador funciona bien.
Why do we say mi ventilador instead of mío ventilador?
In Spanish, mi is the possessive adjective used before a singular noun (like “ventilador”) to mean “my.”
- mío is a stressed possessive pronoun or adjective that usually stands alone or follows the noun with an article (e.g., el mío, un ventilador mío).
- You never put mío directly before the noun without an article.
Why is there no article (like el or un) between mi and ventilador?
Possessive adjectives in Spanish (mi, tu, su, etc.) take the place of an article. You never combine them with el, la, un, or una directly. So it’s always mi ventilador, not el mi ventilador or un mi ventilador.
Why is ventilador masculine?
Nouns ending in -or are almost always masculine in Spanish. That’s why it’s el ventilador. If it were feminine, you’d see an -a ending or another feminine marker.
Why is the verb funciona and not funcionan or funciono?
- funcionar is an intransitive verb (“to work” or “to function”).
- We conjugate it according to the subject, which is mi ventilador (third person singular).
- Present indicative for él/ella is funciona.
• funcionan would be for plural subjects (they).
• funciono would be first person singular (“I work/function”), which doesn’t match “el ventilador.”
Could I say Mi ventilador está funcionando bien instead? What’s the difference?
Yes, you can.
- Mi ventilador funciona bien uses the simple present to express a general or habitual fact: “My fan works well.”
- Mi ventilador está funcionando bien uses the present progressive to emphasize that it’s working well right now. In many cases the simple present is more common to talk about machines.
Why do we use bien instead of bueno after funciona?
- bien is an adverb, and adverbs modify verbs. Here it describes how the fan works.
- bueno is an adjective, and adjectives modify nouns. You’d use bueno if you were describing the fan itself (e.g., Es un ventilador bueno, “It’s a good fan”).
Can I use trabajar instead of funcionar for a machine?
You could hear trabaja used for machines (“Mi lavadora trabaja bien”), especially in some regions, but:
- funcionar is the standard verb for machines and appliances.
- It always follows the pattern funciona/funcionan.
How do I pronounce ventilador, and where’s the stress?
- Break it into syllables: ven-ti-la-dor.
- It’s an aguda (stress on the last syllable) because it ends in a consonant other than n or s.
- Pronunciation guide: [ven-tee-la-DOR], with a clear dor at the end.