water is back?

[sebayanpendam]

hi,

Are these the ways we say these to someone? How do you as a native speaker say things about water and electric?

1."Water is back."
2. is water back yet?
2."The pipe is broken. We are cut off".
3."Electricity is out". (when referring to cable problems).

Thanks.

 

[bhaisahab]

hi,

Are these the ways we say these to someone? How do you as a native speaker say things about water and electric?

1."The water is back."
2. Is the water back yet?
2."The pipe is broken. We are cut off". OK
3."Electricity is out". (when referring to cable problems). "There is a power cut".

Thanks.

.

 

[Barb_D]

In the US, we say "The power is out."

(Oddly, when it is restored, we don't say it's back "in" but that it's back "on.")

 

[sebayanpendam]

Hi again.

Could you please explain why must there be 'the' before 'water' and 'electric'?

Thanks.

 

[bhaisahab]

Hi again.

Could you please explain why must there be 'the' before 'water' and 'electric'?

Thanks.

For the same reason that you put one before "pipe" in your original post.

 

[tedtmc]

Hi again.

Could you please explain why must there be 'the' before 'water' and 'electric'?

Thanks.

not a teacher
You are not talking about any water (supply) in general but the water supply (specific) in your area.

 

[BobK]

In the US, we say "The power is out."

(Oddly, when it is restored, we don't say it's back "in" but that it's back "on.")

:up: And unfortunately an associated noun has arisen - common in the IT world but not yet recognized as standard British English: "outage". Examples: "There has been an outage./There will be problems due to an outage". A friend of mine suggested - not entirely seriously - that it was just a typo for "outrage".

British English does have another derivative from this sort of "out": "blackout". Sometimes, when the power company schedules a repeated cycle of short blackouts, affecting neighbouring areas at different times, I've heard them called "brown-outs" - but this is far from being recognized as standard British English.

b

 

[mmasny]

Would the power is off be correct?

 

[Barb_D]

If the power is "off" is because you have flipped the breaker and turned it off. It's "out" when the electricity if now flowing down the power lines to the house.

 

[RonBee]

In my neck of the woods we would say the water is back on. (Well, I would. I'm not a native North Carolinian.) We certainly do have power outages (all over). Also, we certainly do have brownouts as well as blackouts. (I seem to remember hearing "brownouts" used mostly to refer to California.)

 

[BobK]

:up: ;-) I think I heard it in a news report about CA. Another pithy and useful addition to the English lexicon thanks to you lot, ;-)

b