然而， "police 警察" ( 作為名詞僅跟 'the' 一起使用 ) 實際指的是組織、一群人 - 它指的是國家整個警力。最近，美國有一場 'defund the police' 削減警察經費的運動 - 起因於人民對警察射殺數位黑人而引發的怒火。這裡的 'The police' 是指所有警員。

However, "the police" (as a noun it is only ever used with 'the') is actually an organisation, a group of people - it means the whole police force in your country. Recently there is a campaign in America to 'defund the police' - to lower their funding due to people's anger about their shooting of several black men. 'The police' here means all the police.

如果我們想說的是單一警察 - 該說 'a policeman 一位警察' 或是 'a policewoman 一位女警' 或 ( 避免性別) 可以說 'a police officer 警官' 。我們也可以說 'a police car 一輛警車' 或 'a police station 一個警局' 都可以用 'a' 一個單數來表達。

If we want to say one individual police officer - we need to say 'a policeman' or 'a policewoman' or (to avoid any gender) 'a police officer'. We can also talk about 'a police car' or a 'a police station' - all using 'a' meaning one - no problem.

若你認識任何台灣警官，請記得跟他們分享這篇文章！在英文用法中，應該是 'the police 警察', 或 'a police officer 一位警官'，但絕非 'a police' !

If you know any Taiwanese police officers out there, then remember to share this post with them! They are 'the police', or a 'police officer' but never 'a police' in English!