die Polizei
police
Die Polizei (the police) is feminine and takes die. Its gender is predictable for once: German nouns ending in -ei are almost always feminine, a group that also includes die Bäckerei (bakery) and die Metzgerei (butcher shop).
The important grammar point is that Polizei is a collective noun with no normal plural, and it always takes a singular verb. Die Polizei ist da means "the police are here", using ist rather than sind. British English treats "police" as plural, so this is a habit worth breaking deliberately.
To talk about an individual officer, German uses a different word: der Polizist for a man and die Polizistin for a woman. The plurals are die Polizisten and die Polizistinnen. So drei Polizisten means "three police officers", while die Polizei refers to the force as a whole.
The emergency number for police in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland is 110, separate from 112 for fire and ambulance. Useful phrases include die Polizei rufen (to call the police) and Anzeige erstatten (to file a report).
Compounds are straightforward: die Polizeiwache is a police station, das Polizeiauto is a police car, and der Polizeibeamte is a police officer in more formal or official language.
Pronunciation: Polizei has three syllables, [poliˈtsaɪ], with the stress on the last one. The z makes a "ts" sound and the final ei sounds like the "y" in English "my", so the word ends roughly as "-tsy".
Article / Gender
English
police
Singular
die Polizei
Plural
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die Polizei appears in the following vocabulary collections:
Die Polizei kommt schnell.
The police are coming quickly.
Keep the subject before the verb.
Ich sehe die Polizei auf der Straße.
I see the police on the street.
Accusative object follows the verb.
Die Polizei ist heute hier.
The police are here today.
Time comes before place.
- What does Polizei mean in German?
- Polizei means "the police" as an institution. It is a feminine noun and takes die: die Polizei.
- Is Polizei singular or plural in German?
- It is singular and takes a singular verb: die Polizei kommt (the police are coming). English speakers often use a plural verb here by mistake.
- How do you say police officer in German?
- A single officer is der Polizist (male) or die Polizistin (female). The plurals are die Polizisten and die Polizistinnen.
- How do you pronounce Polizei?
- Polizei is pronounced [poliˈtsaɪ], with the stress on the final syllable. The z makes a "ts" sound, and ei rhymes with English "my".
- What is the police emergency number in Germany?
- The number for the police is 110. The separate number 112 reaches the fire brigade and ambulance service, and it works across the whole European Union.