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

🇮🇹 Most Italian flats have their own small gas boiler, often in the kitchen or on a balcony. When the hot water fails, the landlord will usually ask about it first.

💬 accesa ends in -a because it describes la caldaia "the boiler", which is a feminine word. For a masculine word it would be acceso, as in il riscaldamento è acceso "the heating is on".

💬 accesa ends in -a to match caldaia. With a masculine word it would be acceso: Il riscaldamento è acceso? "Is the heating on?"

🇮🇹 Landlords often ask first whether the boiler is switched on. Most Italian flats heat their water with their own gas boiler, and a lot of problems turn out to be a tripped switch or low pressure.

🇮🇹 When someone promises to do something subito, don't count on it happening this minute. It often just means "soon" or "today", so it's normal to follow up politely.

💬 lo shrinks to l' before a vowel, which gives l'idraulico. The same happens with l'appartamento "the apartment".

💬 Italian often uses the present tense for a promise about the near future, so chiamo means "I'll call". Same with Pago domani "I'll pay tomorrow".

🇮🇹 In Italy, fixing a broken boiler is normally the landlord's job and their cost, and they usually pick the plumber. Still, check your contract, because tenants typically cover routine yearly servicing.

💬 può serves for both "he can" and the polite "you can" when speaking to someone as Lei. Context tells you which one is meant. Here it's the plumber.

💬 Clock times use le because the word for hours, ore, is understood: le dieci "ten o'clock". The one exception is one o'clock, which is l'una.

💬 Here domani works directly with the time of day, with no linking word in between. Swap it in: domani pomeriggio "tomorrow afternoon", domani sera "tomorrow evening".

🇮🇹 With tradespeople, verso le dieci is a loose window, so expect some lateness. Waiting in for a plumber can easily take the whole morning.

💬 Lei with a capital L is the polite "you". It uses the same verb forms as "she", which is why the question works this way.

🇮🇹 Landlords and tenants normally stay on Lei terms. Using it keeps the relationship businesslike and polite.

💬 Italian says a casa "at home" with no word for "my". Same with vado a casa "I'm going home".

💬 Here Le means "to you" in the polite form. Like most words of this kind, it goes before the verb, not after it.

🇮🇹 Confirming by text, usually on WhatsApp, is completely standard with Italian landlords. It also gives you a written record of what was agreed.

🇮🇹 Adding signora or signore is a normal, warm way to be polite in Italy. It doesn't come across as stiff the way "ma'am" can in English.

🇮🇹 The polite reply to thanks from someone you address formally, like a landlord. With friends you'd hear figurati instead.