La grapadora no tiene grapas; voy a la oficina de mensajería.

The stapler has no staples; I’m going to the courier office.

Breakdown of La grapadora no tiene grapas; voy a la oficina de mensajería.

• yo: I
• de: of
• tener: to have
• a: to

Questions & Answers about La grapadora no tiene grapas; voy a la oficina de mensajería.

Is "grapadora" the usual word in Latin America? Are there regional alternatives?

Yes, but there’s regional variation. You’ll be understood with grapadora, yet many countries prefer other terms:

• Mexico, Central America, much of Colombia: engrapadora
• Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay: abrochadora; staples are often grampas
• Chile: corchetera; staples corchetes
• Colombia (some areas): cosedora Use what locals say; otherwise grapadora/engrapadora are safest.

Why is grapas plural? Could I say no tiene grapa?

Spanish normally treats “staples” as countable items in the plural, so no tiene grapas is the natural way to say “it has no staples.”

• no tiene grapa = “it doesn’t have a (single) staple,” which is unusual unless you literally mean there isn’t even one staple.
• You can also say no tiene ninguna grapa to stress “not a single staple.”

What are other natural ways to say “The stapler is out of staples”?

Common options:

• La grapadora se quedó sin grapas.
• No hay grapas en la grapadora.
• A la grapadora se le acabaron las grapas.
• La grapadora está sin grapas. All are idiomatic; pick based on style and region.