Лучше вызвать сантехника.

Here лучше means it would be better or you’d better.

It is the comparative form of хорошо (well / good in an adverbial sense), but in this kind of sentence it works as an impersonal recommendation:

• Лучше вызвать сантехника. = It’s better to call a plumber.
• Literally: Better to call a plumber.

There does not have to be an explicit than... phrase. The comparison is understood from context.

Because after лучше in this structure, Russian usually uses an infinitive to name the action being recommended.

So the pattern is:

• Лучше + infinitive

Examples:

• Лучше подождать. = It’s better to wait.
• Лучше уйти сейчас. = It’s better to leave now.
• Лучше вызвать сантехника. = It’s better to call a plumber.

This is a very common way to give advice in Russian.

This is about aspect.

• вызвать = perfective
• вызывать = imperfective

Here the speaker is talking about one complete action: arranging for a plumber to come. That is why вызвать is the natural choice.

So:

• вызвать сантехника = call for / send for a plumber as a single completed action
• вызывать сантехника would sound more like a repeated, ongoing, or process-focused action, which is less natural in this sentence

In advice about a single next step, Russian often prefers the perfective infinitive.

Because it is the direct object of вызвать, so it goes into the accusative case.

For animate masculine nouns, the accusative singular looks like the genitive singular.

So:

• nominative: сантехник = a plumber
• accusative: сантехника = a plumber as the object of the verb

Compare:

• Я вижу студента. = I see the student
• Я вызову сантехника. = I’ll call a plumber

This is a very important Russian pattern:

• masculine animate: accusative = genitive
• masculine inanimate: accusative = nominative

Because of the context and the verb.

There are two related words:

• сантехник = plumber
• сантехника = plumbing / sanitary equipment

In this sentence, вызвать сантехника means call a plumber, which is a very common expression.

If сантехника meant plumbing, the phrase would not make sense in the same way, because you call a person, not the plumbing.

So here сантехника is the accusative form of сантехник, not the separate noun сантехника.

Russian often leaves the subject unstated when it is general, obvious, or not important.

So this sentence can mean things like:

• We’d better call a plumber.
• You’d better call a plumber.
• It would be better to call a plumber.

The exact subject depends on the situation.

This is normal in Russian, especially in short advice-style sentences.

Because Russian has no articles.

English distinguishes:

• a plumber
• the plumber

Russian does not do this with separate words. The listener understands from context whether the meaning is specific or non-specific.

So сантехника could mean:

• a plumber
• the plumber

In this sentence, English will usually translate it as a plumber, unless the context already makes a specific plumber clear.

Not exactly.

• вызвать сантехника = call for / send for a plumber, with the idea of getting the plumber to come
• позвонить сантехнику = call the plumber on the phone

So вызвать focuses on the result: a plumber is summoned. позвонить focuses on the phone call itself.

In many situations they may be close in meaning, but вызвать сантехника is the more natural phrase if the point is getting a plumber out to the house.

Yes. Very often.

Russian does not need to say the full comparison if it is obvious from the situation.

So:

• Лучше вызвать сантехника.

implicitly means something like:

• It’s better to call a plumber than keep trying yourself
• It’s better to call a plumber than wait
• It’s better to call a plumber instead

If you want, you can make the comparison explicit with чем:

• Лучше вызвать сантехника, чем чинить это самому.
• It’s better to call a plumber than fix it yourself.

The neutral word order is:

• Лучше вызвать сантехника.

This sounds natural and straightforward.

Russian word order is flexible, but changing it changes the focus or emphasis.

For example:

• Сантехника лучше вызвать. = puts more focus on the plumber
• Вызвать лучше сантехника. = can sound contrastive, like it’s better to call a plumber rather than someone else

So the original order is the most neutral one for ordinary advice.

It is neutral and very natural.

You could use it:

• in conversation
• in advice
• in everyday speech

It is neither especially formal nor slangy.

Depending on tone and context, it can sound like:

• calm advice
• practical common sense
• a mild recommendation

So it is a very useful everyday sentence pattern to learn.