95 Comments
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Is there some good reason why “I’m a cop.” isn’t accepted? Might be the first time I’ve noticed a common American term missing from the available answers.
I reported it. Some people don't think it's respectful, but I've heard plenty of police officers refer to themselves as cops (or as coppers if they're British). If people were making this argument about the many, many worse slang terms for police officer I'd get what they were saying, but I think most people in some places use "cop" almost always and "police officer" almost never.
We had a friend of the family who was chief of police. He explained to my father that he was perfectly fine with being called a cop. He said it stood for "Constable On Patrol." I have no idea whether or not the name origin is accurate, but I do know that he was okay with being called aCop. :-)
(if that helps)
I'm speculating, but I would guess that since "cop" is super informal bordering on rude, there's a different word in Italian that carries a similar informality.
Cop doesn't sound rude to me. Wordreference also lists cop as a translation for "poliziotto", so if it isn't accepted i feel it should be.
I respectfully disagree. I have been reared in Canada and since the age of 12, in the U.S. I have always been taught that "cop" is too slangy and disrespectful to the police force in this country.
Why are you people down voting this lady for a personal experience of a different culture? Unless you are Canadian and can categorically prove it's a lie then you people are just showing bad form.
Cop is not rude. It is slang, and it used to be rude, but now you can call a policeman a cop and they won't blink an eye.
- 71
Interesting to hear that, I'm from Toronto and while on the news we hear police or officers, saying cops is fine right up to the chief of the the service. (I've seen this in most of Ontario to be honest). They tend to be pretty friendly too
cop is totally not rude, my uncle was a cop, and he refered to himself as a cop, not a police officer!
The word "cop" is WAY more used in the U.S. than "policeman", and should definitely be accepted.
Okay even if policeman isn't as commonly used in the U.S., it's definitely common as far as I know here in the UK so it's not like it's invaluable
We did it folks, just got an email from duolingo.
> You suggested “i am a cop” as a translation for “Sono un poliziotto.” We now accept this translation. :) > Thanks for the contribution, please keep it up!
Mission accomplished!!!
I tried cop too and got denied. Here in the states, cop does not carry any negative connotations, it's just slang. "Pig", on the other hand... :)
*"Bad boys, bad boys, watcha gonna do, watcha gonna do when they come for you..."
If a woman would want to say this sentence, would it become 'sono una poliziotta'?
In English, you have variants such as prince/princess, actor/actress. In languages such as Italian and Spanish, this is much more frequent: professore/professoressa, architetto/architetta... There is no rule set in stone, because a lot of these changes have taken place in the last few decades!
Its the same in german, one can have Lehrer (male) or Lehrerin (female) the prefix is "in" for female on many occupations.
Which, to be totally honest, is getting way out of hand. I know some people may seem this discriminating against women, but i find it discriminating against the German language to gender every ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ profession.
Is that coz women have innies and men have outies? ;) (I'm feeling childish today)
Why would cop be the wrong word for poliziotto, if policeman means the same thing?
- 1733
That's an opinion I don't share. Where are you from? Growing up in the American Midwest, one could easily call someone a cop to his or her face with no offence. They don't have to accept it, but it seems like at least a few people on here don't feel it's a disrespectful or especially casual term.
- 144
Can you please tell me if you hear this word in TV news or in court or if you can write a report using such word?
I grew up in the Midwest and i find 'cop' to be informal and disrespectful, regardless of common usage. 'Police officer' and 'officer' are my preferences. I respect them.
- 144
Offensive or not, common or not, "cop" is a slang word and shall not be accepted as an answer. Full stop.
Wouldn't that become 'sono poliziotti'? But the literal meaning of this sentence would more be like: they are policemen (but I don't know whether that is correct english, I come from the Netherlands..)
You're right on the English, it would be "they are policemen" or "they are police officers". I'm not certain of "police force" in Italian (I'm English), but I'd guess it would be "una forza di polizia" or maybe just "una polizia". Could someone fluent in Italian clarify?
Honestly police officer is misused by native speakers too. They're trying to be politically correct but the term police officer is supposed to be used for an policeman that has an officer's rank like a captain. But it is so common to misuse that it has just been accepted as a correct term
I always thought poliziotto had a rather negative connotation and would not readily be said by someone who is one, or am I mistaken?
Commissario de luca was on Brit TV the other day eschaeke. I seem to remember that at one point, navigating his way between the fascists and communists he said at one point "sono un poliziotto" - signifying a professional pride - one not wanting to get involved in possibly messy even compromised fights and point-scoring/score-settling. Just someone trying to do his job/establish some order and truth in Italy. Apologies if my memory is faulty - have deleted the BBC download of episode 3 which it possibly occurred in.
Lingot for your reply. Nice to have input/feedback on cultural matters - a relief from grammar.
i said "i am a police" and it marked it wrong? i come from a place where "police" can be both singular and plural :c
In standard English it is always plural. You couldn't say "The police has been investigating a crime;" it would have to be "The police have..." But not everyone who is a native speaker speaks standard English!
- 87
English does not have an international standard body (the way Italian or French do), so you'd have to qualify "standard English" with a country or other, self-proclaimed authority (e.g. Webster, SAT). From what I've seen, UK standard English prefers organizations (such as the police) to take a plural, US standard English prefers a singular.
That makes me curious about where you're from, because I've never heard that! Interesting.
Isn't person politically cortect by the way i am a woman so -person or -woman NOT -MAN
How can you tell the difference between "Loro; I am" and "Loro; They are"? I mean with out having to cheat. Do you just know by context? Because DL doesn't give context.
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Do you mean the difference between "sono" I am and they are? [Loro always means they]. You cannot know the difference unless you know the context, just as "ha" can mean he, she or it has.
Yes, I mean the word "Sono" which can mean both "I am" and "You are". How do you know which one is being used? I know if it says "Loro sono" it means they are. But in this case it doesn't say that. It only says "Sono un poliziotto." So how do I know if it says "I am a policeman" or "They are policemen."?
- 190
In the example you have given, you would have the context. Because if there are more than one policemen, you would have the plural noun "sono poliziotti" - Italian is much more helpful than English because of the way that nouns change to give us the gender and the number
English use "They" as a singular E.G: I see someone and they are a police officer. Could you say "vedo qualcuno ed sono poliziotto"? Could this be "they are a policeman"?
I am still confused about when the article is required and when it isn't with professions
I thought in Italian articles are unnecessary with professions: Sono poliziotto, sono scrittore, etc.... Please clarify. Thanks.
I would also like someone to clarify! I thought the article was unnecessary with professions, but was marked wrong.
can you please put "i am a cop" on the correct answer list. Policeman takes too long to write.
And also a director, and by brothers are mechanics, and my cousins are plumbers.
Because policewoman is poliziotta
How come this translation isn't "Faccio un poliziotto" ? I just did a question which wrote: "Mia figlia fa la poliziotta" or something close to it... Why not a derivative of the verb "fare"? Thanks for your help :)
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'Police' refers to many, 'I am' just one. Or: 'police' is an adjective, so if it has an article, ('a') it needs a noun after it, e.g. 'a police woman'.
Is the indefinite article necessary or even correct for an unmodified occupation?
Political Correctness gone mad! Poliziotto is surely masculine. Are we all genderless?
