Spoken English

What do we say in English when things don’t work or we have problems? Read the explanations, look at the examples and try the exercises. By ADRIAN DOFF

Talking about things that don’t work

In everyday life, we often have problems with objects or machines: either they don’t work or they don’t do what we want. Let us look at some ways to talk about this in English.

Things that don’t work

If you try to use your laptop and nothing happens, you might say

It’s not working or It doesn’t work.

Sorry, the photocopier doesn’t work.

The dishwasher isn’t working. We’ll have to wash up by hand.

If something works but not perfectly, you can say It isn’t working

properly:

This hairdryer isn’t working properly. It blows only cold air all the time.

If something stops working altogether, in informal British English, you can say it has packed up:

My phone’s packed up. I think I need to buy a new one.

Particular problems might be:

(with a phone, a laptop or a car): The battery’s flat (UK) or

dead. (= You need to recharge it.)

(with a watch or an electric torch): The battery’s gone.

(= You need a new one.)

(with a light): The bulb’s gone.

(with a drawer or a window): It’s stuck or jammed.

(= You can’t move it.)

Another common way to talk about problems is to say

doesn’t... or It won’t...:

The drawer doesn’t open.

The car won’t start.

My computer won’t shut down properly. You can also have problems with everyday objects that don’t move or that need electricity. Plates or glasses, for example, might be cracked, broken or smashed (= broken into pieces):

Don’t use that glass. It’s cracked.

Things made of paper or cloth can be torn:

I need to mend my jacket. It’s torn at the elbow.

Things made of metal might be rusty:

The lock’s rusty. I can’t open it.

A table or chair might be wobbly:

I can’t write on this desk. It’s too wobbly.

And parts that should be fixed tightly may move because they are loose:

Be careful with that frying pan. The handle’s loose.

Dealing with problems

If something is broken or doesn’t work, you need to mend,

repair or fix it. (Mend is more common in British English; fix is more common in American English.) A common way to talk about this is with the expression need + verb + -ing: The lamp needs mending. My bike needs repairing. You can use other verbs with the same pattern. If a door is old, it may need painting; if your fridge is dirty, it needs cleaning; if a lock is rusty, it may need oiling; and when the battery of your laptop is flat, it will need

recharging.

Another way to say this is to use need + noun:

This door needs a bit of paint.

I think my torch needs a new battery.