You steal a thing, but you rob a person or a place. After steal comes what was taken: steal a phone, steal money. After rob comes the victim or the place: rob a bank, rob a tourist.
rob or steal — can you pick the right one?
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steal + thing (+ from + person/place); rob + person/place (+ of + thing); be robbed; have + thing + stolen
- Someone stole my bike from outside the library while I was studying.
- Two men robbed a jewellery shop in the city centre last night.
- I had my wallet stolen on the train, so I had to cancel all my cards.
What changed
First versionI was stolen on my way home last night.
RevisionI was robbed on my way home last night.
Steal is the verb that comes to mind first for taking things. But the object of steal is always the thing taken, so I was stolen sounds as if someone took the person away. When a person is the victim, use rob: I was robbed. To talk about the thing, use steal: My wallet was stolen.
To talk about something taken from you, English often uses have + thing + stolen: I had my bike stolen last week. The pattern rob someone of something sounds more formal and is less common in conversation: The gang robbed tourists of their cash.
Your turn
While I was ordering coffee, somebody ___ my laptop from the table.
Show the answer
stole — The gap is followed by a thing, the laptop, and a thing needs steal: stole my laptop. People don't say robbed my laptop, because rob needs the person who was robbed: somebody robbed me.
Retell a news story about a theft that you've heard or read. Use both verbs: name the place that was robbed and what was stolen from it.
Last month someone robbed a flower shop near my office and stole all the money from the till.
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