Telling my landlord the hot water is broken: Prior attemps to fix the problem

🇩🇪 German landlords often expect you to try the basics first, like resetting the boiler or checking the pressure. Be ready to list what you've already done.

💬 Therme is the wall-mounted gas boiler that heats water in many flats. Elsewhere, the same word can also mean a thermal spa.

💬 In verbs like einschalten "to switch on", the ge goes inside: ein-ge-schaltet. Same with ausschalten → ausgeschaltet.

💬 The dash in aus- means it shares the ending of the next verb, so it is short for ausgeschaltet. You'll see the same shortcut in Ein- und Ausgang "entrance and exit".

🇩🇪 Mentioning the light's colour, or any error code on the display, helps your landlord brief the plumber. It may even let them diagnose the fault over the phone.

💬 der Druck becomes den Druck when it's the thing being checked or acted on. Only masculine words change like this: die Therme stays die Therme.

🇩🇪 Boilers have a small pressure gauge that tenants are expected to check. Topping it up when it drops too low is usually treated as your job, not the landlord's.

💬 The French-style ending -eur is said roughly like (in-stah-lah-TUR), with the stress at the end. Same in Friseur "hairdresser".

💬 anrufen "to call" splits, and an jumps to the end: ich rufe ... an. Likewise ich rufe Sie morgen an "I'll call you tomorrow".

🇩🇪 For a broken boiler, the landlord normally books and pays the plumber. Don't hire one yourself without agreeing it first, or you may not get the cost back.

💬 German often uses the plain present for future plans when a time is given: er kommt morgen "he'll come tomorrow". No separate future form is needed.

🇩🇪 Say Auf Wiederhören only on the phone, since it's about hearing each other again. Face to face, it's Auf Wiedersehen.

🇩🇪 Gern or Gern geschehen is a warm, natural reply to thanks. Bitte works too and is just as common.