Rob vs Steal Exercises

Rob and steal both involve taking something that does not belong to you, but they follow different grammar patterns. Rob focuses on the victim — the person or place that loses something: "rob + person/place" — "They robbed the bank," "Someone robbed her in the street." Steal focuses on the thing taken: "steal + object" — "They stole the money," "Someone stole her bag." You rob a person or a place, but you steal a thing.

The full expression uses "of" with rob and "from" with steal: "They robbed the bank of two million pounds" and "They stole two million pounds from the bank." Both sentences describe the same event, but the focus shifts. The forms are: rob — robbed — robbed (regular, with doubled "b") and steal — stole — stolen (irregular). A very common mistake is saying "Someone robbed my phone" — this is wrong because a phone is a thing, not a person or place. The correct versions are "Someone stole my phone" or "Someone robbed me of my phone." In the passive, both are common: "The bank was robbed" (victim) and "The money was stolen" (thing taken). This distinction is tested at B1-B2 level.