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

🇨🇳 A landlord will often say 哎呀 (āi yā) on first hearing about a breakdown. It's a sympathetic sigh, not a refusal. It usually comes right before they offer to sort it out.

💬 Put 过 right after a verb to say you've done it before. Swap the verb to make others: 你看过了吗？ "Have you looked?"

💬 了 right after the action marks it as done: 关了 (guān le) "turned off". Same with other actions you tried, like 试了 (shì le) "tried".

💬 Adding 吗 (ma) to the end turns a statement into a yes/no question, with no change in word order. Compare 还是不行。 "Still doesn't work."

💬 不 is said (bù) here because 行 (xíng) has a rising tone, so 不行 is (bù xíng). 不行 covers "doesn't work" for appliances, plans, and requests alike.

💬 也 goes before the action, never at the end of the sentence like English "also": 我也试了 "I also tried".

💬 上 means "last" and 下 means "next": 下个月 "next month", 上个星期 "last week".

💬 To say how many times you did something, put the count after the verb: 修过一次, 去过两次 "have been twice". The 一 in 一次 is read (yí) because a falling tone follows it.

🇨🇳 师傅 (shī fu) is the respectful way to address any tradesperson, such as a repairman, plumber or taxi driver. Use it to call them directly too: "师傅, ...".

🇨🇳 师傅 (shī fu) is the polite way to address any skilled tradesperson, such as a plumber, electrician or taxi driver. Call them 师傅 directly when they arrive.

💬 Time words like 今天 go before the action, not at the end: 今天又坏了, 明天来 "come tomorrow".

💬 又 means "again" for something that already happened, often with annoyance. For future repeats Chinese uses 再 instead, as in 再来看看.

🇨🇳 Reminding the landlord it was fixed before and failed again is a polite way to push for a proper repair instead of another quick patch.

💬 Doubling a verb like 看看 (kàn kan) softens it to "take a look". The second one is said lightly with no tone. Try 试试 "give it a try".

💬 让 + person + action means "have someone do something": 让师傅来 "have the repairman come".

🇨🇳 师傅 (shī fu) is the respectful, everyday way to address or refer to a repairman, driver, or tradesperson. Landlords usually send their own trusted one rather than having you hire someone.

🇨🇳 This is the standard polite thanks for anyone doing you a favor, and it works better here than a plain 谢谢. Using 您 adds respect for the landlord.

💬 In Chinese you don't phone someone directly. You "给 someone 打电话", with the person placed before the verb.

🇨🇳 This is a friendly, standard way for a landlord to close the call. It signals they're open to hearing from you, so you can call again if the fix fails.

💬 The person you call goes before the phrase with 给 (gěi): 给房东打电话 "call the landlord".