English Grammar and Exercises for ESL learners.

ROB - BURGLE - STEAL

(to take something illegally)

Rob - Steal
- You rob a person or place.
- You steal something that does not belong to you.
- robs a place (for example, a bank), or a person, of something.
- steals something from a place or person.
  
  Examples :
  - A bank robbery took place this morning.
  - A gang of armed robbers forced their way into the bank.
  - The thieves robbed the bank.
  - The bank was robbed of a large amount of money.
  - The gang stole a large amount of money from the bank.
  - The thieves also robbed the customers of their wallets..
  - The robbers stole their wallets from the customers.
  - The customers' wallets were stolen by the robbers/thieves.
Burgle
- A burglar is a person who burgles a house by forcing a way into it and stealing from it.
  
  Example :
  - During a recent concert, a number of houses in the area were burgled.
  - The burglar stole essentially jewellery, cash, credit cards and mobile phones.
  - He was caught by the police while trying to steal a car.
N.B. 'Thief' is a noun referring to someone who steals, but the verb 'to thieve'
is rarely used. It is more usual to say 'to steal' something, or 'to rob' someone.