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

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

🇯🇵 Most Japanese apartments have a gas water heater with a control panel on the kitchen or bathroom wall. Pressing its reset or power button is the first fix anyone will ask about.

💬 Add みる to the て form of a verb and it means "try doing it and see". So して + みました gives "tried doing", and 食べてみました means "tried eating it".

💬 Japanese "turns off" power with 切る, literally "to cut", and turns it on with 入れる, literally "to put in". The same pair works for switches and appliances.

💬 The て form 切って links two actions in order, like "did X, and then Y". Only the last verb shows the past tense: 起きて、食べました means "I got up and ate".

💬 だめ means "no good" and covers anything that failed or isn't allowed. だめでした is a handy, polite all-purpose way to say "it didn't work".

🇯🇵 Japanese homes have a gas shut-off valve, usually near the meter or the appliance. After an earthquake or a long absence, a closed valve is a common reason the hot water stops, so it's a standard thing to check.

💬 Here は is said (wa), not (ha). It sets up ガスの元栓 as the thing being asked about, as in "as for the gas valve, did you check it?"

💬 開いています describes the current state, "is open", not an ongoing action. The same pattern gives 閉まっています "is closed".

💬 にも means "also to". に marks who you called and も adds "also". Likewise 友達にも話しました means "I also told my friend".

💬 と marks the words someone said, like quotation marks. 何と (nan to) means "what" as in "said what"; 何 is read (nan) here, not (nani).

💬 To report what someone said, put だと after the statement and then add 言っていました. For example, 明日は休みだと言っていました means "They said tomorrow is a day off".

💬 じゃあ is the casual, spoken form of では "well then". It's common even in polite conversation to move on to a conclusion or next step.

💬 ね at the end asks the listener to agree with you, like "isn't it?" or "right?".

💬 明日 is usually said (ashita), even though its kanji don't spell that sound piece by piece. In formal settings you may hear (asu).

💬 ○○の人 is an easy way to name someone by their job when you don't know the proper word: ガスの人 "the gas person".

💬 呼びます (yobimasu) "call" means summoning someone to come over, not phoning them. For a phone call, Japanese uses 電話します instead.

🇯🇵 In Japanese rentals the landlord or management company normally arranges and pays for repairs to the building's equipment. Tenants shouldn't call a plumber themselves first.

🇯🇵 In Japanese rentals, the landlord or management company normally arranges and pays for repairs to built-in equipment like the water heater. Tenants are expected to report the problem rather than call a repairer themselves.

🇯🇵 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.