Learn Italian: La polizia cerca il ragazzo. - The police are looking for the boy.

La polizia cerca il ragazzo.

The police are looking for the boy.

Breakdown of La polizia cerca il ragazzo.

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Questions & Answers about La polizia cerca il ragazzo.

Why is the verb singular (cerca) if the English translation says 'The police are'?

In Italian, la polizia is a singular feminine noun, much like 'the family' or 'the team' in English. Because it represents a single unit, it takes the 'he/she/it' form of the verb: cerca.

Where is the Italian word for 'for' in this sentence?

The verb cercare already means 'to look for' or 'to search for'. The 'for' is built right into the action, so you never add an extra word like per after it. You just name exactly what is being searched for: cerca il ragazzo.

How would I turn this into a question to ask 'Who is the police looking for?'

You start with the question word chi (who), followed immediately by the verb cerca, and finally the subject la polizia. So you would ask Chi cerca la polizia? Italian does not use helper words like 'is' or 'are' to build questions.

How do I change this to ask 'Who is looking for the boy?'

You would simply say Chi cerca il ragazzo? Here, chi (who) is the one doing the action, so it acts as the subject right before the verb.