Unreturned Rental Car: What Happened in Palma?

Key vocabulary

• detenerv.

  to arrest; to stop

  “La Policía Local de Palma ha detenido a un joven de 23 años.”— The Local Police of Palma have arrested a 23-year-old man.

  Pattern detener a alguien to arrest someone

  Compare arrestar to arrest

  Conjugation: detengo, detienes, detiene, detenemos, detenéis, detienen; past participle detenido

  💡 de- (away) + tener (to hold) → to release from a state of freedom, extended to mean to arrest.

• alquilerm.

  rental; rent

  “El vehículo pertenecía a una empresa de alquiler de Málaga.”— The vehicle belonged to a rental company from Málaga.

  Pattern coche de alquiler rental car

  Compare renta rent

  Plural alquileres

  💡 From the verb alquilar (to rent), common collocation coche de alquiler.

• denunciaf.

  report; complaint

  “Además, había una denuncia porque el coche no fue devuelto.”— Furthermore, there was a report because the car was not returned.

  Pattern poner una denuncia to file a report

  Compare acusación accusation

  Plural denuncias

  💡 From the verb denunciar (to report), note the difference from denuncia.

• patrullaf.

  patrol; patrol car

  “Una patrulla de policía circulaba por la calle Llaüt, en Playa de Palma.”— A police patrol was driving along Llaüt Street, in Playa de Palma.

  Pattern patrulla de policía police patrol car

  Compare guardia guard

  Plural patrullas

  💡 From French patrouille, refers to a small patrol team.

• adhesivom.

  sticker; adhesive

  “En ese momento, los agentes vieron un coche que tenía restos de adhesivos de una compañía de alquiler en la parte trasera.”— At that moment, the officers saw a car that had remnants of stickers from a rental company on the back.

  Pattern restos de adhesivos sticker residue

  Compare pegatina sticker

  Plural adhesivos

  💡 From the verb adherir (to stick), common on vehicle stickers.

• sospecharv.

  to suspect

  “Los policías sospecharon que algo no estaba bien.”— The police suspected that something was not right.

  Pattern sospechar de alguien to suspect someone

  Compare dudar to doubt

  Conjugation: sospecho, sospechas, sospecha, sospechamos, sospecháis, sospechan

  💡 From Latin suspicari, note the difference from sospechoso (suspicious).

• comprobarv.

  to check; to verify

  “Querían comprobar la documentación del vehículo y del ocupante.”— They wanted to check the documentation of the vehicle and the occupant.

  Pattern comprobar la documentación to check the documents

  Compare verificar to verify

  Conjugation: compruebo, compruebas, comprueba, comprobamos, comprobáis, comprueban

  💡 com- (together) + probar (to prove) → to prove together, extended to mean to check.

• ocupantem./f.

  occupant; passenger

  “Querían comprobar la documentación del vehículo y del ocupante.”— They wanted to check the documentation of the vehicle and the occupant.

  Pattern el ocupante del vehículo the vehicle occupant

  Compare pasajero passenger

  Plural ocupantes

  💡 From the verb ocupar (to occupy), refers to a person occupying a space.

• verificaciónf.

  verification; check

  “Durante la verificación, el conductor no pudo demostrar que el coche era suyo o que estaba autorizado a usarlo.”— During the verification, the driver could not prove that the car was his or that he was authorized to use it.

  Pattern durante la verificación during the verification

  Compare comprobación check

  Plural verificaciones

  💡 From the verb verificar (to verify), note the similarity to English verification.

• autorizadoadj.

  authorized

  “Durante la verificación, el conductor no pudo demostrar que el coche era suyo o que estaba autorizado a usarlo.”— During the verification, the driver could not prove that the car was his or that he was authorized to use it.

  Pattern estar autorizado a to be authorized to

  Compare permitido allowed

  Feminine autorizada, plural autorizados

  💡 From the verb autorizar (to authorize), note gender and number changes.

• sucesom.

  event; incident

  “Este suceso nos recuerda que debemos devolver siempre los coches de alquiler a tiempo y en el lugar acordado.”— This incident reminds us that we should always return rental cars on time and at the agreed place.

  Pattern un suceso importante an important event

  Compare evento event

  Plural sucesos

  💡 From Latin successus, note the difference from éxito (success).

• acordadoadj.

  agreed; arranged

  “Este suceso nos recuerda que debemos devolver siempre los coches de alquiler a tiempo y en el lugar acordado.”— This incident reminds us that we should always return rental cars on time and at the agreed place.

  Pattern lugar acordado agreed place

  Compare pactado agreed

  Feminine acordada, plural acordados

  💡 From the verb acordar (to agree), note the difference from recordar (to remember).

Grammar spotlight

Sentence patterns to steal

• La Policía Local de Palma ha detenido a un joven de 23 años.

  The Local Police of Palma have arrested a 23-year-old young man.

  Subject + haber + past participle + a + personYou can replace the subject, verb, and object, e.g., La policía ha arrestado a un hombre.

• El motivo es que conducía un coche de alquiler que no había devuelto.

  The reason is that he was driving a rental car that he had not returned.

  El motivo es que + clauseYou can replace the clause, e.g., El motivo es que no tenía permiso.

• Los policías sospecharon que algo no estaba bien.

  The police suspected that something was wrong.

  Sospechar que + clauseYou can replace the clause, e.g., Sospecho que él miente.

• Durante la verificación, el conductor no pudo demostrar que el coche era suyo.

  During the verification, the driver could not prove that the car was his.

  No poder demostrar que + clauseYou can replace the clause, e.g., No pudo demostrar que era inocente.

• Este suceso nos recuerda que debemos devolver siempre los coches de alquiler a tiempo.

  This incident reminds us that we must always return rental cars on time.

  Recordar que + clauseYou can replace the clause, e.g., Recordar que hay que ser puntual.