Poliția arestează criminalul.

The police arrest the criminal.

Breakdown of Poliția arestează criminalul.

• poliția: the police
• a aresta: to arrest
• criminalul: the criminal

Questions & Answers about Poliția arestează criminalul.

Why isn’t there a separate word for the in this sentence?

Because Romanian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word before it.

In this sentence:

• poliție = police
• poliția = the police
• criminal = criminal
• criminalul = the criminal

So Romanian often says the equivalent of police-the and criminal-the.

The ending changes depending on the noun’s gender and number.

Why is poliția singular when English often says the police are?

In Romanian, poliția is a singular noun referring to the institution or police force. So the verb is also singular:

• Poliția arestează... = The police arrests / is arresting... in Romanian grammar

In natural English, we usually say the police are, but Romanian treats poliția as one entity.

If you want to talk about the individual police officers, you would use a different word:

• polițiștii = the police officers

What form is arestează?