detective
/de-tek-TEE-beh/
detective
A person who investigates crimes is called el/la detective (the detective).
detective(Noun)
detective
?a person who investigates crimes
investigator
?a more general term
,private eye
?informal, for a private detective
📝 In Action
El detective buscaba pistas en la escena del crimen.
A2The detective was looking for clues at the crime scene.
Contrataron a una detective privada para encontrar a la persona desaparecida.
B1They hired a private detective to find the missing person.
Sherlock Holmes es el detective más famoso de la literatura.
A2Sherlock Holmes is the most famous detective in literature.
💡 Grammar Points
One Word for Male and Female
The word 'detective' stays the same for men and women. You just change the little word before it to show who you're talking about: 'el detective' for a man and 'la detective' for a woman.
❌ Common Pitfalls
No 'Detectiva'
Mistake: "La detectiva encontró la pista."
Correction: La detective encontró la pista. The word 'detective' doesn't change its ending for gender, even when talking about a woman.
⭐ Usage Tips
Police vs. Private
Just like in English, 'detective' can refer to a police officer or a private investigator. If you need to be specific, you can say 'detective de la policía' or 'detective privado'.
As an adjective, detective describes the type of genre, as in una película detective (a detective movie).
📝 In Action
Me encanta leer novelas detectives.
B1I love to read detective novels.
Vimos una película detective anoche.
B1We saw a detective movie last night.
El trabajo detective requiere mucha paciencia.
B2Detective work requires a lot of patience.
💡 Grammar Points
An Adjective That Stays the Same
When used to describe something, 'detective' doesn't change for gender. It's 'una película detective' (a detective movie) and 'un libro detective' (a detective book). It only changes for plural: 'novelas detectives'.
❌ Common Pitfalls
Placement After the Noun
Mistake: "Una detective novela."
Correction: Una novela detective. In Spanish, adjectives that describe a 'type' or 'category' of something usually go after the thing they're describing.
⭐ Usage Tips
Using 'Policíaco' as an Alternative
You'll often hear 'novela policíaca' which means the same as 'novela detective'. 'Policíaco' is a very common alternative when talking about this genre.
✏️ Quick Practice
💡 Quick Quiz: detective
Question 1 of 2
Which of these sentences is grammatically correct in Spanish?
📚 More Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there any difference between 'detective' and 'investigador'?
They are very similar! 'Detective' usually refers specifically to someone who solves crimes, either for the police or privately. 'Investigador' (investigator) is a broader term. A scientist can be an 'investigador', and so can a journalist. In a crime context, you can often use them interchangeably.
Why doesn't 'detective' change to 'detectiva' for a woman?
Some Spanish nouns that refer to professions and end in '-e' don't change their ending for gender. They are part of a group of words that stay the same for both men and women, like 'estudiante' (student) or 'cantante' (singer). You just change 'el' to 'la' to show you're talking about a woman.