So, here we are again with another issue about common mistakes. I cannot insist enough just how common they are. I hear them time and time again and I correct them many times a week and I don’t mind about that at all, it’s my job. If I can help just a few of you through this issue to stop confusing some of these words, then I consider my job well done.
They are actually all words that, if used in the wrong way, they may lead to confusion if you are speaking to a native or very very proficient non-native speaker. So let’s get to it.
To steal / To Rob
STEAL: “I was stolen” If you say this you are saying that you, as a person were taken from somewhere to somewhere else - as if you were kidnapped, which would be the more appropriate term. If you said “I was stolen” you would not be expressing that one of your belongings was taken from you.
So why does it not make sense? Well, when we use the verb “steal” we often refer to the object or inanimate object that was stolen.
If we want to say where or who it was stolen from we need the prepositions “from”
The money was stolen from the bank.
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