Гальмо не працює.

A rough pronunciation is hal-MO ne prat-syu-YE.

A few helpful points:

• г in Ukrainian is usually like an English h sound, not a hard g.
• ль is a soft l sound.
• ю in працює sounds like yu.
• є here sounds roughly like ye.

So the whole sentence is approximately hal-MO ne prat-syu-YE.

Не is the basic Ukrainian word for not.

So:

• працює = works / is working
• не працює = does not work / is not working

It goes directly before the verb.

Ukrainian does not have articles like English a and the.

So Гальмо не працює can mean:

• The brake doesn’t work
• A brake doesn’t work
• The brake is not working

Context tells you which one is meant.

Гальмо is a neuter noun. A common clue is that many neuter nouns in Ukrainian end in -о or -е.

It matters because gender affects some parts of grammar, especially:

• adjectives
• past tense forms
• pronouns

In this sentence, though, the present-tense verb працює does not show gender. It only shows that the subject is third person singular.

Працює is the 3rd person singular present tense form of працювати = to work.

It is used with he, she, or it:

• він працює = he works
• вона працює = she works
• воно працює = it works

Since гальмо is a singular thing, працює is the correct form.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Ukrainian present tense often covers both ideas:

• works in a general sense
• is working right now

So Гальмо не працює could mean:

• The brake doesn’t work
• The brake isn’t working

English chooses between those more explicitly; Ukrainian often does not need to.

It is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the sentence.

In other words, гальмо is the thing that does not work.

Basic structure:

• Гальмо = subject
• не працює = predicate

The most neutral word order is:

• Гальмо не працює.

But Ukrainian word order is fairly flexible. You may also hear:

• Не працює гальмо.

That version can sound more like emphasizing the fact that it isn’t working, or it may fit better in a particular context.

So the original order is the most straightforward, but not the only possible one.

Normally, працювати is the right verb for something that functions or works.

So:

• Гальмо не працює = The brake doesn’t work / isn’t functioning

Робити usually means to do or to make, so it would not be the natural verb here.

A good rule:

• machines, devices, systems functioning -> працювати
• doing/making something -> робити

Yes. If you mean the car’s brakes as a set, Ukrainian often uses the plural:

• Гальма не працюють. = The brakes don’t work.

Your sentence uses the singular:

• Гальмо не працює.

That can refer to:

• one brake
• the brake mechanism
• the brake pedal/system in a general way, depending on context

So both singular and plural are possible, but they express slightly different things.

In everyday Ukrainian, you can often make a yes/no question just by using intonation:

• Гальмо не працює? = The brake isn’t working?

You could also change the order for emphasis:

• Не працює гальмо?

But the simplest way is just to keep the same words and raise your intonation at the end.

The dictionary forms are:

• гальмо = brake
• не = not
• працювати = to work

In the sentence, працювати changes to працює because it is conjugated for third person singular present.