# la policía/los policías



## lasmujeres

Hello!

If the singular is *la policía*, shouldn't the plural be *las policías*? My book says *los policías. *


Thanks!


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## aommoa

La policía no tiene porqué ser lo, te puedes referir o a una mujer policía o bien a todo el cuerpo en su conjunto como el ejercito


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## Foraneo

Bueno…si tú te refieres a la policía de manera genérica,  como corporaciones,encontrarás que realmente es como tú dices.
Ejemplo: Las policías de todas las ciudades están subordinadas al ministerio de seguridad de la provincia.


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## Doraemon-

Hay que distinguir:
El cuerpo de policía = LA policía (solo en femenino)
Las personas que lo integran = EL/LA policía (según sea hombre o mujer, el madero).
El plural del segundo será LOS/LAS policías según su sexo. El plural del primero efectivamente sería LAS policías, aunque hablaríamos de los distintos cuerpos de policía (por ejemplo: _las policías francesa y española hicieron una redada conjunta_), no de los policemen/policewomen.


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## Circunflejo

lasmujeres said:


> If the singular is *la policía*, shouldn't the plural be *las policías*?


Yes.


lasmujeres said:


> My book says *los policías. *


If they provided la policía as the form in singular, that's wrong.


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## User With No Name

Circunflejo said:


> If they provided la policía as the form in singular, that's wrong.


I'm reasonably sure the book was trying to distinguish between la policía (organization) and el/la policía (person). That's something that is typically included in introductory Spanish textbooks. And older textbooks often didn't even mention "la policía" as "female police officer," since police officers were assumed to be men.

I would be very surprised to see "las policías" with the meaning of "multiple police entities" mentioned in an introductory textbook.


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## Circunflejo

User With No Name said:


> I'm reasonably sure the book was trying to distinguish between la policía (organization) and el/la policía (person). That's something that is typically included in introductory Spanish textbooks. And older textbooks often didn't even mention "la policía" as "female police officer," since police officers were assumed to be men.
> 
> I would be very surprised to see "las policías" with the meaning of "multiple police entities" mentioned in an introductory textbook.


We lack context so we'll have to wait for it. If it was an exercise in a workbook and the question was to provide the plural of la policía, the only right answer would be las policías. That's what I intended to say with my previous comment.


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## lasmujeres

aommoa said:


> La policía no tiene porqué ser lo, te puedes referir o a una mujer policía o bien a todo el cuerpo en su conjunto como el ejercito



En ese caso sería el policia


Circunflejo said:


> Yes.
> 
> If they provided la policía as the form in singular, that's wrong.



That's how it has been mentioned in the book. First la policia and then los policias, which is what made me ask.


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## Circunflejo

lasmujeres said:


> That's how it has been mentioned in the book. First la policia and then los policias, which is what made me ask.


Did la policía go accompanied by a picture? If yes, what did it show? Same question(s) about los policías. Another one: What was the unit about?


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## lasmujeres

This is the context. Los policias is before the 13th blank.


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## lasmujeres

No picture of any female. 


Circunflejo said:


> Did la policía go accompanied by a picture? If yes, what did it show? Same question(s) about los policías. Another one: What was the unit about?


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## Circunflejo

lasmujeres said:


> This is the context. Los policias is before the 13th blank.


It's OK. They are talking about la policía, as a law enforcement organization, and on that specific sentence they talk about the members of that law enforcement organization that worked on that specific case (instead of talking once again about the police as a law encorcement organization). That's why they say los policías. Being los policías, we also know that they were all male or a mix of male and female. In my humble opinion, it would have been better if they had continued talking about la policía but there isn't really anything wrong with your text.


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## Som-hi

En la primera frase se refiere al "cuerpo de policía"
En la que te ocupa ahora se refiere a las personas que trabajan en la policía pero *como individuos*, y parece ser que eran de género masculino. "Los" policias.


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## Rocko!

hummm... a group of police officers can be called both "la policía" and "los policías". That's the problem.


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## Circunflejo

Rocko! said:


> a group of police officers can be called both "la policía" and "los policías"


Not really.


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## gengo

lasmujeres said:


> If the singular is *la policía*, shouldn't the plural be *las policías*? My book says *los policías. *



Just to summarize what has already been said, the first one translates to "the police," meaning the police force, not an individual, and the second one means "the (police) officers," referring to the individuals.  The latter meaning would only use the feminine article if all of the officers were women, which is possible but unlikely.


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## Rocko!

Circunflejo said:


> Not really.


My answer is based on the image given in #10 as context. What context are you talking about?


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## lasmujeres

gengo said:


> Just to summarize what has already been said, the first one translates to "the police," meaning the police force, not an individual, and the second one means "the (police) officers," referring to the individuals.  The latter meaning would only use the feminine article if all of the officers were women, which is possible but unlikely.


Thanks! That clarifies.


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## Rondivu

gengo said:


> Just to summarize what has already been said, the first one translates to "the police," meaning the police force, not an individual, and the second one means "the (police) officers," referring to the individuals.  The latter meaning would only use the feminine article if all of the officers were women, which is possible but unlikely.




Technically "la policía" (the first one) also translates to the policewoman, although in most cases you will see it referred to as "la agente de policía". 
"Las policías" (the second one) also translates to the police forces as in #4 (las policías francesa y española hicieron una redada conjunta) and the individuals, all women. Again, you will most probably see the latter referred to as "las agentes de policía".
"Los policías" (the police officers) can refer to men and women or just men.


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## Rondivu

Rocko! said:


> hummm... a group of police officers can be called both "la policía" and "los policías". That's the problem.


I agree with this, although I don't think it's a problem.

La policía/Los policías entró/entraron en la casa.
How many? We don't know. Does it make any difference? I don't think so.


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## Magazine

Som-hi said:


> En la primera frase se refiere al "cuerpo de policía"
> En la que te ocupa ahora se refiere a las personas que trabajan en la policía pero *como individuos*, y parece ser que eran de género masculino. "Los" policias.





Rocko! said:


> hummm... a group of police officers can be called both "la policía" and "los policías". That's the problem.





Rondivu said:


> I agree with this, although I don't think it's a problem.
> La policía/Los policías entró/entraron en la casa.
> How many? We don't know. Does it make any difference? I don't think so.


 Parece que todos estamos de acuerdo


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## dalv

Doraemon- said:


> (por ejemplo: _las policías francesa y española hicieron una redada conjunta_),


Is plural "las policias" the only correct option in this case? is it completely wrong to say "la policia francesa y española or la policia francesa y la española"?


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## Magazine

dalv said:


> is it completely wrong to say "la policia francesa y española or la policia francesa y la española"?


Es lo que hubiera dicho yo. 

Es decir, el cuerpo de policía español y el cuerpo de policía francés ....
La policía española y francesa (aquí _podríamos_ pensar que la española y francesa es un conjunto de cuerpos de policía)
La policía española y la francesa.


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## Rondivu

dalv said:


> Is plural "las policias" the only correct option in this case? is it completely wrong to say "la policia francesa y española or la policia francesa y la española"?


I'm not Doraemon but I can answer your question too. No, it's not wrong. In fact, I prefer "La policía francesa y española" to "Las policías francesa y española".


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## dalv

Thank you Rondivu/Magazine, grammar is not one of my strengths so I'm glad I started reading this forum I think I can learn a lot.  
Feliz fin de semana


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## Circunflejo

Rocko! said:


> My answer is based on the image given in #10 as context. What context are you talking about?


The same one. If you say la policía, you aren't focusing on the group of police officers but on the organization in which they work.


dalv said:


> is it completely wrong to say "la policia francesa y española or la policia francesa y la española"?


La policía francesa y española would mean that they are (different areas/divisions of) the same police. La policía francesa y la española is perfectly fine.


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## Doraemon-

dalv said:


> Is plural "las policias" the only correct option in this case? is it completely wrong to say "la policia francesa y española or la policia francesa y la española"?


It's not wrong at all, they're all correct: _la policía francesa y la española; las policías francesa y española; la policía francesa y española _(although this one could be ambiguous)_._
It was just an example of how to use "las policías" in plural, the other ones wouldn't have been an exemple of the plural of "la policía"


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## Rondivu

And then we also have "Las policias francesas y españolas", which means neither of the above (#27).


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## Foraneo

Som-hi said:


> En la primera frase se refiere al "cuerpo de policía"
> En la que te ocupa ahora se refiere a las personas que trabajan en la policía pero *como individuos*, y parece ser que eran de género masculino. "Los" policias.


Bueno…no necesariamente. Podría ser un grupo mixto o hasta un solo hombre y varias mujeres. Según la lengua española un solo varón es suficiente para masculinizar todo el grupo (Los policías).
Excepto para las fanáticas feministas que dirían: “Las policías y los policías/ Les policíes / L@s policí@s/ Lxs policíxs” o alguna otra variante que yo aún desconozco.


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## Rondivu

Som-hi said:


> Bueno, más que una cuestión de feminismo se trata de una cuestión de evolución.
> Si te quieres quedar atrás, allá tú.


Entonces podemos decir, para seguír evolucionando, que toda mujer que ostenta un cargo público es una carga pública, ¿verdad?  ¿O ese no vale porque...?


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## Som-hi

Rondivu said:


> Entonces podemos decir, para seguír evolucionando, que toda mujer que ostenta un cargo público es una carga pública, ¿verdad?  ¿O ese no vale porque...?


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## Rocko!

Rondivu said:


> Entonces podemos decir, para seguír evolucionando, que toda mujer que ostenta un cargo público es una carga pública, ¿verdad?  ¿O ese no vale porque...?


Edito: ya te hice un meme con eso:

Sí. Es que el problema es que en el texto no se habla de un grupo de mujeres policías, sino de los representantes de las fuerzas policiacas (una fuerza policiaca), es decir, el apersonamiento de "la policía", que no se sabe si son solo mujeres, solo hombres o un grupo mixto, como ya mencionaron.


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## Rondivu

Sinceramente, Rocko, yo no veo ningún problema en el texto.
Por otro lado, mi comentario fue irónico, y así lo debió ver también Som-hi, a juzgar por sus risas.


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## Rocko!

Rondivu said:


> Sinceramente, Rocko, yo no veo ningún problema en el texto.
> Por otro lado, mi comentario fue irónico, y así lo debió ver también Som-hi, a juzgar por sus risas.


Me refiero a que  el problema existe para un estudiante angloparlante (algo tenía que escribir en #32 para no caer en chat).
Sí, entendí la ironía y me gustó mucho el juego de palabras.


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## Rondivu

Rocko! said:


> Me refiero a que  el problema existe para un estudiante angloparlante.


Ah, vale, creí que el problema era por lo del feminismo radical que comentaba Foraneo, y que seguías con la matraca.


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