Telling my landlord the hot water is broken: Scheduling a plumber for repair

💬 This expresses sympathy, not blame. Your landlord isn't admitting fault, just saying "that's a shame".

💬 leid here comes from leidtun "to be sorry", which splits apart: tut sits in the middle and leid goes to the end. Swap in someone else: das tut ihm leid "he's sorry about that".

💬 ein becomes einen when a masculine word like Klempner is the thing being sent, bought or wanted. Same with Ich brauche einen Termin "I need an appointment".

💬 Ihnen is formal "to you", the form Sie takes after verbs like give, send or show. The person comes before the thing, just like English "send you a plumber".

🇩🇪 In Germany the landlord or the property management (the Hausverwaltung "property management") usually arranges and pays for repairs like this. Tenants generally shouldn't book their own plumber without asking first.

💬 am is a merged an dem, used for parts of the day and days of the week: am Abend "in the evening", am Montag "on Monday". Vormittag means the late morning before noon, not early morning.

💬 zu Hause means being at home. For going home, use nach Hause: Ich gehe nach Hause "I'm going home".

💬 zu Hause means "at home", while nach Hause means "(going) home". Mixing them up is a very common mistake: Ich gehe nach Hause, but Ich bin zu Hause.

💬 gehen usually means "to go", but Geht es? or Geht das? asks whether something is possible or convenient. It's the everyday way to check if a time suits someone.

🇩🇪 Asking whether an alternative time also works is a polite, low-pressure way to counter-offer. It doesn't reject the landlord's suggestion outright.

💬 German often uses the plain present tense for something you're about to do, so Ich frage ihn already means "I'll ask him". You don't need a future form for near plans.

💬 zurückrufen splits apart when used: rufe stays in second position and zurück jumps to the end. Same with anrufen: Ich rufe Sie morgen an.

💬 ab means "from ... onward" for start times: ab acht Uhr "from eight o'clock". vierzehn Uhr is 2 pm on the 24-hour clock.

🇩🇪 The 24-hour clock is standard for appointments in Germany, especially on the phone, because it avoids any confusion. Saying zwei Uhr could mean 2 am or 2 pm.

🇩🇪 Alles klar is a friendly, neutral way to confirm you've understood and agree. It's fine with a landlord and works in almost any everyday situation.

💬 sich melden needs mich to say who will get in touch: ich melde mich. With Sie it becomes Sie melden sich.

💬 noch after a time word adds "before that time runs out": heute noch "still today", diese Woche noch "before the week is over".

💬 sich melden means "to get in touch" and always needs mich, sich or similar: Ich melde mich, Melden Sie sich bitte. It's the go-to phrase for promising a call or message back.

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