Learn Spanish (Spain): La policía investiga una agresión en el metro. - The police are investigating an assault on the metro.

La policía investiga una agresión en el metro.

The police are investigating an assault on the metro.

Breakdown of La policía investiga una agresión en el metro.

a, an, some

in / on / by (means of transport) / about (after pensar)

Questions & Answers about La policía investiga una agresión en el metro.

Why is it investiga (singular) when the English translation says 'are investigating' (plural)?

In Spanish, la policía refers to the police force as a single collective institution, so it takes a singular verb. In English, the word 'police' is treated as a plural noun.

Doesn't agresión just mean 'aggression'?

It can refer to 'aggression' as a general attitude, but in news and legal contexts like this one, una agresión is the standard false friend for a physical 'assault' or 'attack'. If you want to talk about someone's aggressive behavior or attitude, you would generally use the word agresividad.

Does changing the gender to el policía change the meaning?

Yes. La policía refers to the entire police force (or a specific female police officer). El policía refers to a single male police officer. Since this sentence is about the institution conducting an investigation, it uses the feminine collective form.

Could I use the continuous tense and say está investigando instead of investiga?

Yes, está investigando works perfectly to emphasize that the action is happening right now. However, Spanish frequently uses the simple present (investiga) for ongoing events, especially in news headlines and journalistic reporting.