Telling my landlord the hot water is broken: Explaining the problem

💬 から after a time word means "since" or "from". For example, 月曜日から "since Monday" and 三時から "from three o'clock".

💬 お風呂 (ofuro) usually means the bath or the whole bathing area, which is a separate room from the toilet in most Japanese homes.

💬 台所 is read (daidokoro). You'll also hear キッチン (kicchin), especially in apartment listings.

💬 と joins nouns like "and": お風呂と台所. It only links nouns, never whole sentences.

💬 Using は instead of が here sets up a contrast: cold water comes out, unlike the hot water. は is said (wa).

💬 給湯器 is read (kyūtōki), with two long vowels. 湯 here is the same "hot water" as in お湯.

💬 故障 (koshō) is for machines breaking down. For a broken object like a cup, you'd say 壊れた (kowareta) "broke" instead.

💬 Add かもしれません to the end of a statement to make it "might be". For example, 雨かもしれません "it might rain".

💬 〜ていただけますか turns any action into a polite request. For example, 直していただけますか "could you fix it?"

🇯🇵 午前中 means any time before noon. Repair visits are often scheduled in loose windows like this rather than at an exact hour.

🇯🇵 業者 (gyōsha) alone is neutral. Adding さん makes it polite, which is how people usually refer to the tradespeople they hire.

💬 Here と after a person means "together with". For example, 友達と行きます "I'll go with a friend".

🇯🇵 This is the standard way to close a request. It thanks the person in advance and leaves things in their hands.

🇯🇵 Landlords and businesses routinely apologize like this even when the fault isn't theirs. It's a courtesy rather than an admission of blame.

💬 失礼します literally means "I'm being rude". Here it works as a polite goodbye when ending a call or leaving a room.

🇯🇵 On the phone, it's polite to wait for the other person to hang up first, especially when talking to a landlord or someone senior.