Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
Commandant
English translation:
Commander
Added to glossary by
José Julián Díaz
Jan 6, 2023 18:08
1 yr ago
44 viewers *
French term
United Kingdom
Commandant
French to English
Other
Other
Police ranks
Hello all,
I'm working on a script translation, French to US English. The main characters are police men, more precisely plain-clothes detectives in the French police. Some of their colleagues address them as "commandant" which I find slightly confusing as that doesn't seem to fit their rank. They are not junior detectives, far from it, but they are also not the most senior person in their station (they have a boss who oversees the station as a whole and who they report to).
The only equivalent in US English I can find is "major" but that seems way above their rank.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
I'm working on a script translation, French to US English. The main characters are police men, more precisely plain-clothes detectives in the French police. Some of their colleagues address them as "commandant" which I find slightly confusing as that doesn't seem to fit their rank. They are not junior detectives, far from it, but they are also not the most senior person in their station (they have a boss who oversees the station as a whole and who they report to).
The only equivalent in US English I can find is "major" but that seems way above their rank.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Proposed translations
(English)
| 5 | Commander |
José Julián Díaz
|
| 4 +4 | Sir |
Bourth
|
| 3 -1 | Big Boss; (BrE) Guv'nor |
Adrian MM.
|
Change log
Jan 13, 2023 16:42: José Julián Díaz Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
1 hr
José Julián Díaz
Mexico
Mexico
Works in field
Mexico
Translation QA Specialist
Native in: Spanish (Variants: Standard-Spain, Latin American, Mexican) 
Works in: English to Spanish, Spanish to English, French to Spanish, and 3 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
2
Selected
Commander
https://profdev.college.police.uk/professional-profile/metro...
https://cdn.muckrock.com/outbound_composer_attachments/jolie...
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Note added at 6 hrs (2023-01-07 00:29:25 GMT)
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@Sheri P and @philgodard, It's not what or how you want it to be!
Phoenix Police Commander Killed, Two Officers Injured in Shooting
https://www.phoenix.gov/newsroom/police/1098
Chicago police commander killed assisting on call | CNN
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/13/us/chicago-police-command...
Suspect in shooting of Commanders running back charged in unrelated homicide
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/22/brian-rob...
https://cdn.muckrock.com/outbound_composer_attachments/jolie...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 hrs (2023-01-07 00:29:25 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
@Sheri P and @philgodard, It's not what or how you want it to be!
Phoenix Police Commander Killed, Two Officers Injured in Shooting
https://www.phoenix.gov/newsroom/police/1098
Chicago police commander killed assisting on call | CNN
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/13/us/chicago-police-command...
Suspect in shooting of Commanders running back charged in unrelated homicide
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/22/brian-rob...
Note from asker:
| Thanks, the second link was useful as I was able to see some staff members had the title of Detective Commander which is likely the most fitting. I was stuck on the fact that my detectives didn't see to match the rank of "commander" but this helped seeing the nuances of the word. Much appreciated. |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Yolanda Broad
48 mins
|
| neutral |
Sheri P
: Your last link refers to the Washington Commanders football team. It has nothing to do with police.
6 hrs
|
|
LOL, Sheri P. I didn't check the third link. Just copied and pasted it. The point is that it is clear that commanders do have action.
|
|
| neutral |
philgoddard
: I don't think you'd normally see more than one commander in such a context.
22 hrs
|
| disagree |
Martin Buchet
: Out of context. Yes we know commander is an English word. But here it's not used this way.
1 day 2 hrs
|
2 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Went for commander in the end, still think it may not quite fit the ranks of these policemen, but then again the French "commandant" doesn't fit either. I'll see what feedback I get."
+4
6 hrs
Sir
Unless they are presenting themselves to a member of the public, say, maybe you don't need to state their rank/title.
In French everything is oui, mon général, non, mon colonel, peut-être, mon capitaine, etc. In English: Yes, sir; no, sir; maybe, sir. Unless you're Bluebottle from The Goon Show, my cap-i-tain.
In French everything is oui, mon général, non, mon colonel, peut-être, mon capitaine, etc. In English: Yes, sir; no, sir; maybe, sir. Unless you're Bluebottle from The Goon Show, my cap-i-tain.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
philgoddard
: Good idea. It sounds like there are no women involved.
16 hrs
|
| agree |
Emmanuella
17 hrs
|
| agree |
Martin Buchet
20 hrs
|
| agree |
AllegroTrans
72 days
|
-1
15 hrs
Adrian MM.
Austria
Austria
Native in English
Austria
Retd.T&I, Barrister & Austro-Advokat
Native in: English (Variants: Scottish, British) 
Works in: Spanish to English, English to Spanish, French to English, and 5 more.
Big Boss; (BrE) Guv'nor
> a 'script translation' suggests a stage play or film / movie.
So, out of any context, commandant is being used colloquially or police station slang as a form of banter between colleagues, rather than as a designation of rank. Compare 'mi jefe' in Spanish, 'ja, Chef/ meine Chefin' if used ironically in German, 'Big Boss' or London taxi-driver 'Guv'nor' in English/ Cockney.
So, out of any context, commandant is being used colloquially or police station slang as a form of banter between colleagues, rather than as a designation of rank. Compare 'mi jefe' in Spanish, 'ja, Chef/ meine Chefin' if used ironically in German, 'Big Boss' or London taxi-driver 'Guv'nor' in English/ Cockney.
Example sentence:
Non, mon commandant, mon ancienne... J'ai appelé une connaissance.
Peer comment(s):
| disagree |
philgoddard
: I've never seen anyone call anyone "big boss" in a cop show. "Guvnor" is UK English, and the asker wants US.
8 hrs
|
|
1. A very categoric & typically fallacious comment when there are quite a few Big Boss cop shows around https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11279894-big-boss 2. the Boss word alone could have been used & 3. Guv'nor was meant as a BrE parallel.
|
Discussion
Commander
Not all police departments have the rank of commander. For those that do, the COMMANDER IS THE NEXT STEP ABOVE CAPTAIN in the chain-of-command. They may work with special units and divisions or head up geographical regions of large metropolitan police departments.
As administrators, their responsibilities may be similar to a captain’s.
https://www.allcriminaljusticeschools.com/law-enforcement/po...
[This is a US site]
However:
"Police ranks in the USA
[...]
The ranks that follow in the hierarchy afterwards are:
• Sergeant – supervises an entire watch shift
• Lieutenant – supervises two, three or more sergeants
• Capitan [sic] – supervises a division or unit and often an entire police station
• MAJOR (deputy inspector) – supervises a police station
• Colonel is a senior executive rank also referred to as “superintendent,” “commissioner” or “director”
• Inspector or COMMANDER – commands divisions, which may be groups of precincts within a borough or specialized branches of the police service
https://golawenforcement.com/articles/sheriffs-ranks-order-a...
[the section quoted above refers t
I'm a Brit, and "commander" to me sounds like a very senior desk job, someone in charge of a district, which would not fit your context. You wouldn't normally have more than one commander in a cop show.
But in Sheri P's list of US ranks it's only one above captain, and maybe someone who still chases bad guys in the streets. Since it's US English you want, this may fit the bill.
Detective
Sergeant
Lieutenant
Captain
Commander
Deputy Chief
Assistant Chief
See below for more info. You need to determine if the characters’ duties are purely administrative or not
https://www.allcriminaljusticeschools.com/law-enforcement/po...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_ranks_of_France