Speaking Spanish
How to report a theft to the police, in Spanish
If you are in the chair right now
Me han robado el bolso. Quiero poner una denuncia.
My bag has been stolen. I want to file a report.
If that gets brushed off
Ha sido hace una hora, en el metro. Llevaba el móvil, la cartera y las llaves.
It was an hour ago, on the metro. It had my phone, my wallet and my keys in it.
In Spain «me han robado» is the natural form. In most of Latin America you would say «me robaron». Both are correct where they are used, and the wrong one is understood everywhere. Poner una denuncia is the fixed phrase for filing the report — you will need it for any insurance claim.
Nobody plans for this, and it arrives at the worst possible moment for building a sentence. You are rattled, your phone is gone, and the officer needs three specific things from you before anything else can happen. It is worth having the first line ready before you ever need it.
If you need more than one line
neutral
Me han robado la cartera.
My wallet has been stolen. In Latin America: me robaron la cartera. Swap in: el móvil / el celular, el bolso, la mochila, el pasaporte.
neutral
Quiero poner una denuncia.
I want to file a report. The fixed phrase. Not «hacer un reporte», which is a translation rather than the thing that exists.
neutral
Ha sido esta mañana, cerca de la estación.
It was this morning, near the station.
firmest
Necesito una copia para el seguro.
I need a copy for the insurance. The reason you came, and worth saying out loud.
Two things worth knowing
This is the one situation where you will be too rattled to build a sentence.
The tense changes by country
For something that happened this morning, Spain reaches for the perfect: «me han robado». Most of Latin America uses the simple past: «me robaron». Neither is wrong, and nobody will fail to understand you either way, but matching the local habit is the difference between sounding like you live there and sounding like you are reading. If you cannot remember which, «me robaron» is understood everywhere.
Denuncia is a thing, not a description
Poner (or presentar) una denuncia is the specific administrative act of filing a police report, and it is what an insurer will ask you for. Asking to «reportar un robo» will be understood but marks you out immediately; asking to poner una denuncia tells the officer exactly which form to reach for.
What Carlos actually said
What you have to get done
- Say what was taken and where it was taken from
- Explain what the bag looks like and what was inside
- Give details about when it happened
Carlos
Where was your bag stolen?
You
My bag was stolen in the park during the afternoon. It was black leather and had some important things inside, like my wallet and my phone.
Carlos
Thank you for the information. I'll make a note and help you with the next step. Take care and have a good day.
The whole conversation, unedited
A real run in the app, nothing scripted on the officer's side. The transcript above is taken from this recording, and the objectives tick off on screen as they are met.
Turn sound on to hear it.
Now say it yourself
Reading that is not the same as producing it with someone waiting, which is the entire difficulty. You can have this exact conversation in the app: Carlos is a third of the way through, and you have three things to get done.
It is free, it takes about a minute to start, and the first attempt is allowed to be terrible.
Practise this conversation
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