الشرطة تعمل في المدينة.

Because الشرطة is treated as a grammatically feminine singular noun in Arabic.

So Arabic uses the 3rd person feminine singular form of the verb:

• هي تعمل = she works / it works
• الشرطة تعمل = the police work

This can feel strange to an English speaker, because English police often behaves like a plural idea, but Arabic الشرطة is a collective noun that usually takes feminine singular agreement.

It is grammatically singular, but its meaning is often collective.

So:

• grammatically: singular feminine
• in meaning: the police, the police force, police as an institution

That is why the sentence uses تعمل instead of a plural verb.

If you want to refer more clearly to individual police officers, Arabic might use expressions such as:

• رجال الشرطة = policemen / police officers
• أفراد الشرطة = members of the police

Here is the breakdown:

• الشرطة = the police
• تعمل = works / is working / operates
• في = in
• المدينة = the city

So structurally it is:

• الشرطة = subject / topic
• تعمل = verb
• في المدينة = prepositional phrase telling you where

تعمل comes from the verb عمل, which often means to work.

In this sentence, depending on context, it can mean:

• works
• is working
• operates
• functions
• serves

Arabic present tense often covers both the simple present and the present progressive, so تعمل can mean either works or is working, depending on context.

The final ة is called tāʾ marbūṭa.

It is very common on feminine nouns, and it is one clue that الشرطة is grammatically feminine.

In normal pause pronunciation, it usually sounds like -a, so:

• شُرطة sounds like shurṭa

But in full grammatical pronunciation with case endings, the t sound appears:

• الشُّرْطَةُ = ash-shurṭatu

So the ة helps explain why the verb is feminine.

Because both nouns are definite.

• الشرطة = the police
• المدينة = the city

Arabic uses ال to mark definiteness, much like English the.

Compare:

• مدينة = a city
• المدينة = the city

In context, المدينة may mean a specific city already known from the situation, or simply the city as a general location.

في is a preposition meaning in.

So:

• في المدينة = in the city

It introduces the place where the action happens.

A useful grammar point: after في, the following noun is in the genitive case. In fully vowelled Arabic, that would be:

• فِي الْمَدِينَةِ

The final -i sound shows the genitive, although short vowels are usually not written in ordinary text.

Yes, absolutely.

Both are natural:

• الشرطة تعمل في المدينة
• تعمل الشرطة في المدينة

The difference is mainly one of word order and focus.

Very roughly:

• الشرطة تعمل في المدينة puts the police first, so it feels more like As for the police, they work in the city
• تعمل الشرطة في المدينة starts with the verb, which is also very common in Arabic and can feel more neutral

For a beginner, it is enough to know that both are correct.

Because normal Arabic writing usually leaves out short vowels and most case endings.

So the sentence is written:

• الشرطة تعمل في المدينة

But in fully vocalized form, it would be:

• الشُّرْطَةُ تَعْمَلُ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ

Those endings show grammar:

• الشُّرْطَةُ has -u
• تَعْمَلُ has -u
• الْمَدِينَةِ has -i because it comes after في

In everyday books, newspapers, and signs, these short vowels are usually omitted.

Because ش is a sun letter.

With sun letters, the ل of ال is not pronounced separately. Instead, the following consonant is doubled.

So:

• الشرطة is pronounced ash-shurṭa not al-shurṭa

But the spelling still keeps ال.

By contrast, in المدينة, the م is a moon letter, so the l is pronounced:

• al-madīna

So the sentence is pronounced roughly:

• ash-shurṭa taʿmal fī al-madīna

A careful full pronunciation is:

• ash-shurṭatu taʿmalu fī al-madīnati

A more natural pause-style pronunciation, without fully pronouncing every case ending, is often closer to:

• ash-shurṭa taʿmal fī al-madīna

Both are useful to know:

• the first helps with grammar
• the second is closer to how many people actually read or say it in normal use