Telling neighbors their music is too loud: Asking repeat offender

🇯🇵 [すみません。] is the normal soft opener when approaching a neighbor. It's less heavy than [ごめんなさい。] and works well before a request or complaint.

💬 [です] adds politeness to a statement; it doesn't always mean a separate English word like "is." You can attach it after a name, a noun, or an [い]-adjective: [となりです], [学生です], [大きいです].

💬 In self-introductions, Japanese often just says the name + [です]. The "I'm" is understood, so you can swap in almost any name: [田中です。]

💬 [となり] literally means "next to" or "next door," and in neighbor situations it often means "the person from next door." So [となりです。] naturally means "I'm from next door," not just "It's next door."

🇯🇵 This is a very natural way to identify yourself to a neighbor without giving your name first. In a noise complaint, it sounds calm and non-confrontational.

🇯🇵 [こんばんは。] is fine if you're knocking in the evening, even if the reason is awkward. Starting with a normal greeting helps soften the complaint.

💬 In [どうしました？], [しました] doesn't literally mean "did?" here. Together, [どうしました？] is a set phrase for "What happened?" or "What's the matter?".

🇯🇵 If a neighbor answers the door with this, they're asking why you came by. It's neutral and common, not necessarily alarmed.