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

💬 [すみません] is the all-purpose opener: “Excuse me / sorry / hey!” Great for getting someone’s attention politely.

🇯🇵 In Japan, starting with [すみません] softens the request and signals good manners—especially with neighbors, staff, or your landlord.

💬 [大家さん] literally “the big house person.” The [-さん] makes it polite and friendly.

🇯🇵 Many places use a management company instead; you might hear [管理会社] too, but [大家さん] is common in older or smaller buildings.

💬 [お湯] means hot (or warm) water. The [お] is an honorific prefix that makes it sound natural/polite.

🇯🇵 Because bathing is a big deal, “no [お湯]” is treated as a real household emergency—especially in winter.

💬 [が] marks the thing that’s not working/appearing. Think: “[お湯] is the thing that won’t come out.”

🇯🇵 Using [が] here sounds like clear “problem reporting” Japanese, which is perfect when calling maintenance.

💬 [出ません] is polite negative of “to come out.” It’s commonly used for water, gas, light, etc. (de-masen).

🇯🇵 Japanese often describes failures as “it doesn’t come out” rather than “it’s broken,” which can sound less accusatory.

💬 Simple and very natural trouble phrase: [お湯が出ません] = “No hot water comes out.”

🇯🇵 This is a great first line to a landlord/management company—clear, polite, and to the point.

💬 [大丈夫？] can mean “Are you okay?” or “Is it okay/Does it work?” Context decides.

🇯🇵 People may say [大丈夫？] even for appliances—don’t be surprised if it’s about the water heater, not your feelings.

💬 [いつ] is the question word “when.” Useful for timelines when reporting problems.

🇯🇵 When you report an issue, you’ll often be asked exact timing so they can guess the cause and prioritize repairs.

💬 [から] marks the starting point in time: “from/since.”

🇯🇵 In service calls, giving a clear start time like “[きのうの夜から]” helps them judge urgency.