Telling my landlord the hot water is broken: Prior attemps to fix the problem
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Key Phrases
Quería hablar del agua caliente.
I wanted to talk about the hot water.
No sale agua caliente desde ayer.
There hasn’t been any hot water since yesterday.
Voy a verlo hoy.
I’ll take a look at it today.
Skills You'll Learn
How to report a home maintenance problem clearly.
Cómo reportar claramente un problema de mantenimiento en casa.
How to describe troubleshooting steps you already tried.
Cómo describir los pasos que ya intentaste para resolver un problema.
How to ask and answer basic follow-up questions about a problem.
Cómo hacer y responder preguntas básicas de seguimiento sobre un problema.
Lesson Roleplay
Imagine you’re telling someone that the hot water has not been working since yesterday, explaining what you already tried, and hearing that they will come check the water heater today.
Hola, quería hablar del agua caliente.
Hi, I wanted to talk about the hot water.
Claro, Emily . ¿Qué pasó?
Of course, Emily. What happened?
No sale agua caliente desde ayer.
There hasn’t been any hot water since yesterday.
Ay, qué raro. ¿Ya intentaste algo?
Oh, that’s strange. Have you tried anything yet?
Sí, revisé la llave y esperé un rato.
Yes, I checked the faucet and waited a while.
Lesson Vocabulary & Phrases
Hola.
OH-lah
Hi.
Quería hablar
keh-REE-ah ah-BLAR
I wanted to talk
💬 [Quería] often softens what you want, like [Quería hablar...] instead of a more direct [Quiero hablar...]. You can reuse that same polite move with [quería preguntar] or [quería ver].
See breakdown →Del agua caliente
del AH-gwah kah-lee-EN-teh
About the hot water
💬 [Del] is just [de + el] combined: [del agua caliente] = [about the hot water]. The same thing happens in [del baño] or [del calentador].
See breakdown →Quería hablar del agua caliente.
keh-REE-ah ah-BLAR del AH-gwah kah-lee-EN-teh
I wanted to talk about the hot water.
💬 [Quería] often softens what you want, like [Quería hablar...] instead of a more direct [Quiero hablar...]. You can reuse that same polite move with [quería preguntar] or [quería ver].
🇲🇽 This is a good polite opener with a landlord or building staff in Mexico: calm and indirect, without sounding vague. It lands better than jumping straight into a complaint.
See breakdown →Claro.
KLAH-roh
Of course.
¿Qué pasó?
keh pah-SOH
What happened?
No sale agua caliente
noh SAH-leh AH-gwah kah-lee-EN-teh
No hot water comes out
💬 Spanish often says [sale agua] — literally [water comes out] — where English would say [there is] or [the hot water works]. You can swap in other things too: [No sale agua fría] or [Sale muy poca agua].
See breakdown →Desde ayer
DES-deh ah-YEHR
Since yesterday
No sale agua caliente desde ayer.
noh SAH-leh AH-gwah kah-lee-EN-teh DES-deh ah-YEHR
There hasn’t been any hot water since yesterday.
💬 Spanish often says [sale agua] — literally [water comes out] — where English would say [there is] or [the hot water works]. You can swap in other things too: [No sale agua fría] or [Sale muy poca agua].
See breakdown →Learn this vocabulary list the easy way
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