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

💬 器 (qì) at the end turns a thing into the device that handles it: 熱水器 is a hot-water device. Compare 電熱水器 "electric water heater".

💬 In Taiwan people often put 有 before an action to ask or say whether it happened: 你有吃過嗎 "have you eaten it before?". 過 after the verb marks that it has been done at some point.

💬 Here 重 is read (chóng) and means "again", not (zhòng) "heavy". You'll hear the same reading in 重新 (chóng xīn) "anew".

💬 掉 after an action means it is done completely, gone or off. Other examples are 丟掉 "throw away" and 吃掉 "eat up".

💬 In a statement, 還是 means "still". In a question it means "or", as in 茶還是咖啡 "tea or coffee". 不行 is the everyday way to say something doesn't work.

💬 瓦斯 (wǎ sī) is the Taiwan word for gas, borrowed through Japanese. On the mainland you'd hear 煤氣 or 天然氣 instead.

💬 開關 (kāi guān) is literally "open-close", which is a neat way to remember it means switch.

💬 In Taiwan, 有 before a verb confirms that an action happened or a state holds, so 有打開 means "yes, it's on". Mainland speakers usually say 打開了 instead, but 有 + verb is everyday Taiwanese Mandarin.

💬 In Taiwan, 有 before a verb is common for asking whether something was done. On the mainland people would say 打開了嗎？ instead.

💬 瓦斯 (wǎ sī) is the Taiwan word for gas, borrowed through Japanese from Dutch "gas". Mainland Chinese uses 煤氣 or 天然氣 instead.

🇹🇼 Many older Taiwan apartments heat water with a gas heater fed by a separate gas line or tank. Checking the gas switch is the first thing a landlord will ask about.

🇹🇼 Many Taiwan homes without piped gas use a delivered 瓦斯桶 on the balcony. When it runs empty, you phone the local gas shop to bring a new one, and a dead tank is a common reason for no hot water.

💬 Here 還 (hái) means "still", so 還有 means "there's still some left". Compare 還沒有 "still none yet".

💬 也 "too, also" always comes before the verb part, never at the end of the sentence like English "too". Say 我也要 for "I want it too".

💬 了 here shows a change has happened: it used to work and now it's broken. The same pattern works with 手機壞了 "my phone broke".

💬 壞了 means something has broken and is now not working. The 了 marks that change. You can swap in other appliances, like 冷氣壞了 "the air conditioner is broken".

💬 Putting 了 after 壞 (huài) "broken" signals that something has become broken. Use the same pattern for other things: 冷氣壞了 "the AC is broken".

🇹🇼 師傅 is a respectful way to address any skilled tradesperson, such as a plumber, electrician or even a taxi driver. Calling the repairman this to his face is polite and expected.

💬 Time words like 明天 go right after the subject and before the verb, not at the end as in English: 我明天去 "I'll go tomorrow".

🇹🇼 師傅 (shī fu) is the respectful everyday title for a skilled tradesperson such as a plumber, electrician or repairman. Calling one 師傅 directly to their face is normal and polite.

💬 Chinese strings actions in the order they happen: first 找師傅, then 去看. You can extend it the same way: 找師傅去修 "get a repairman to go fix it".

💬 呢 at the end softens a question so it sounds natural and conversational rather than blunt.

💬 For the number two in front of a counting word or 點, use 兩 (liǎng), never 二. So it's 兩點 for "two o'clock".

💬 Add 可以嗎？ after any suggestion to ask whether it works: 明天可以嗎？ "Is tomorrow OK?"

💬 Adding 可以嗎 to the end of a statement turns it into a polite "is that okay?" check. For example: 明天，可以嗎 "tomorrow, is that okay?"

🇹🇼 This mixes thanks and apology for the effort you've caused. It's the natural way to close a request to a landlord, more fitting here than a plain 謝謝 "thank you".