gōngshuǐ tíng le.

The structure is:

• 供水 = water supply
• 停 = stop
• 了 = marks a new situation / change of state

So the sentence is basically:

供水 + 停 + 了
= The water supply has stopped.

A very literal gloss would be: Water supply stopped now.

供水 literally means to supply water, but in this sentence it works like a noun phrase meaning the water supply.

This is very common in Mandarin: something that looks like a verb-object combination can function as a noun in context.

So here:

• 供 = provide / supply
• 水 = water
• 供水 = water supply

In English, we naturally translate it as the water supply rather than supplying water.

Here 停 means to stop / come to a halt.

So 供水停了 means the supply of water has stopped. In natural English, that often becomes:

• The water supply has stopped.
• The water has been cut off.
• There’s a water outage.

The exact English wording depends on context, but the core meaning is that the water supply is no longer functioning.

The 了 here marks a change of state.

It suggests that things were one way before, and now they are different:

• before: the water supply was working
• now: the water supply has stopped

So 了 does not simply mean past tense. It highlights that a new situation has arisen.

That is why 供水停了 often feels like:

• The water supply has stopped
• The water is off now

rather than just a plain past statement.

Not exactly.

Mandarin does not have tense in the same way English does. 了 usually marks:

• completion of an event, or
• a change of situation

In 供水停了, it mainly signals a new state: the water supply is now stopped.

Depending on context, English might translate it as:

• The water supply stopped
• The water supply has stopped
• The water is off now

So the time reference comes from the situation, not just from 了 alone.

Because Mandarin often leaves out the agent when it is unknown, obvious, or unimportant.

This sentence focuses on what happened, not who caused it.

English often prefers an explicit subject, but Mandarin does not always need one. Here, 供水 itself is the thing being talked about, so that is enough.

The sentence is about the state of the water supply, not about the people or organization behind it.

Yes, in this sentence 供水 functions as the subject/topic-like element.

You can think of it as:

• 供水 = the water supply
• 停了 = has stopped

So the whole sentence means: The water supply has stopped.

Even though 供水 literally comes from supply + water, here it behaves like a noun phrase.

Yes, 停水了 is very common.

Roughly:

• 停水了 = The water has been shut off / There’s a water outage
• 供水停了 = The water supply has stopped

The difference is mainly one of style and focus:

• 停水了 is very common in everyday speech.
• 供水停了 sounds a bit more formal, technical, or system-focused.

So if you are talking casually, 停水了 may be more natural.
If you are describing the water-supply system itself, 供水停了 fits well.

It could be 供水停止了, and that would sound a bit more formal.

Compare:

• 停 = stop; common and direct
• 停止 = cease; more formal or written

So:

• 供水停了 = natural, concise
• 供水停止了 = more formal, official, or written

Both are understandable, but 停了 is simpler and very natural.

Here 供 is pronounced gōng, so the word is gōngshuǐ.

That is because 供 here means to supply / provide.

Learners sometimes notice that 供 can have another reading, but in 供水 the correct pronunciation is gōng.

So:

• 供水 = gōngshuǐ

Yes. It is completely natural.

Mandarin often uses short, compact sentences, especially for announcements or reporting a situation.

供水停了。 sounds like:

• a notice
• a status update
• a matter-of-fact report

Short sentences like this are very common in Chinese when the context is already clear.