Die Polizei bekommt den Notruf, bevor der Einbrecher flieht.

Polizei is a feminine noun in German, so its nominative singular article is die.

• die Polizei = the police

A useful thing to remember is that die Polizei is grammatically singular in German, even though English the police often behaves like a plural idea.

So German says:

• Die Polizei kommt. = The police are coming. / The police comes.

Even though English uses plural agreement more often, German treats Polizei as a singular noun here.

Because die Polizei is grammatically singular.

The verb bekommen is conjugated here for third person singular:

• ich bekomme
• du bekommst
• er/sie/es bekommt

Since die Polizei is singular, the correct form is bekommt.

So:

• Die Polizei bekommt ... = The police receive/get ...

Even if English thinks of the police as a group, German grammar is following the singular noun Polizei.

Because Notruf is the direct object of bekommt, so it must be in the accusative case.

The noun Notruf is masculine:

• nominative: der Notruf
• accusative: den Notruf

So:

• der Notruf = the emergency call (as the subject)
• den Notruf = the emergency call (as the direct object)

In this sentence, the police are receiving the emergency call, so Notruf is what is being received, which makes it the direct object.

Notruf means emergency call or emergency phone call.

It is made from:

• Not = emergency, distress
• Ruf = call

So den Notruf bekommen means something like:

• to receive the emergency call
• to get the emergency call

Depending on context, German may also use related expressions like:

• einen Notruf erhalten = to receive an emergency call
• den Notruf wählen = to dial emergency services

Bevor means before and is a subordinating conjunction.

It introduces a subordinate clause:

• bevor der Einbrecher flieht = before the burglar flees

A subordinating conjunction connects two parts of a sentence and causes the verb in its clause to go to the end.

Compare:

• main clause: Der Einbrecher flieht.
• subordinate clause after bevor: bevor der Einbrecher flieht

So bevor is the reason the verb flieht appears at the end of that clause.

Because in German, a clause introduced by a subordinating conjunction like bevor usually sends the conjugated verb to the end of the clause.

So the normal pattern is:

• bevor + subject + ... + verb

That gives:

• bevor der Einbrecher flieht

Not:

• bevor flieht der Einbrecher ❌

That second version would not be correct standard word order for a subordinate clause.

Because der Einbrecher is the subject of the subordinate clause.

In the clause:

• bevor der Einbrecher flieht

the burglar is the one doing the action of fleeing, so Einbrecher is in the nominative case.

Since Einbrecher is masculine:

• nominative: der Einbrecher
• accusative: den Einbrecher

Here it must be nominative, so der Einbrecher is correct.

Einbrecher means burglar or break-in thief.

It comes from the verb einbrechen, which can mean:

• to break in
• to burglarize
• in other contexts, also to collapse in or to break into something

The ending -er often makes a noun meaning a person who does the action.

So:

• einbrechen = to break in
• der Einbrecher = the person who breaks in, the burglar

Because the verb here is fliehen, which means to flee or to escape.

Its third person singular form is:

• er flieht = he flees

This is different from fliegen, which means to fly:

• er fliegt = he flies

So:

• flieht ← from fliehen = flees
• fliegt ← from fliegen = flies

They look similar, but they are different verbs.

Yes. Bekommen very often means to get, but in many contexts it can also be naturally translated as to receive.

So:

• Die Polizei bekommt den Notruf.

can be understood as:

• The police get the emergency call.
• The police receive the emergency call.

In English, receive may sound a bit more formal, while get is more everyday. In German, bekommen is very common and natural here.

A somewhat more formal alternative would be:

• Die Polizei erhält den Notruf.

German often uses definite articles more regularly than English learners expect.

Here the definite articles help identify the grammatical role and gender of each noun:

• die Polizei = nominative feminine singular
• den Notruf = accusative masculine singular
• der Einbrecher = nominative masculine singular

In many German sentences, using the article is the normal default unless there is a reason not to.

Also, the article helps show case, which is very important in German grammar. For example:

• der Notruf vs den Notruf
• der Einbrecher vs den Einbrecher

So the articles are doing important grammatical work, not just adding the.

Yes, the sentence is in the present tense:

• bekommt
• flieht

But in German, the present tense is often used for future meaning when the context makes the timing clear.

So this sentence can mean something like:

• The police receive the emergency call before the burglar flees.
• The police will receive the emergency call before the burglar flees.

German does not need a separate future form here unless the speaker wants to emphasize futurity.

Yes. You can put the subordinate clause first:

• Bevor der Einbrecher flieht, bekommt die Polizei den Notruf.

That means the same thing.

The important difference is word order in the main clause after the subordinate clause. In German, when a clause comes first, the finite verb in the main clause comes immediately after it:

• Bevor der Einbrecher flieht, bekommt die Polizei den Notruf.

Not:

• Bevor der Einbrecher flieht, die Polizei bekommt den Notruf. ❌

This is a very common German pattern.

German uses case marking and verb position to show the structure.

Here is the breakdown:

• Die Polizei = subject of the main clause
• bekommt = main-clause verb
• den Notruf = direct object of the main clause
• bevor = introduces the subordinate clause
• der Einbrecher = subject of the subordinate clause
• flieht = verb of the subordinate clause

So the structure is:

• Main clause: Die Polizei bekommt den Notruf
• Subordinate clause: bevor der Einbrecher flieht

The articles are especially helpful:

• die Polizei = nominative
• den Notruf = accusative
• der Einbrecher = nominative

That tells you who is acting and what is being acted upon.