stolen
- 01 A2 Elementary
v.the form of 'steal' used after 'have' or 'be'.
v.the past participle of the irregular verb 'steal', used to form the perfect tenses and the passive voice.
Simple“The police discovered that the car had been stolen two days ago.”
In context“By the time the museum staff arrived for their morning shift, the most valuable painting in the collection had already been stolen.”
UsageRequires an auxiliary verb like 'have' or 'be' when used as a verb.
PitfallSomeone has stole my bike. Someone has stolen my bike.Use 'stolen' with 'have' or 'has'. 'Stole' is only for the simple past tense without a helping verb.
- 02 A2 Elementary
adj.describes something that was taken without the owner's permission.
adj.referring to property or items that have been taken unlawfully from the rightful owner.
Simple“He was arrested for trying to sell a stolen laptop at the market.”
In context“The authorities worked tirelessly to track the stolen artifacts across international borders before they could be sold to private collectors.”
Usage stolen vehicle
From Middle English stolen, istolen, from Old English stolen, ġestolen, from Proto-Germanic stulanaz, past participle of Proto-Germanic stelaną (“to steal”), equivalent to stole + -en. Cognate with Scots stellin, stollin (“stolen”), Saterland Frisian stäälen (“stolen”), West Frisian stellen (“stolen”), Dutch gestolen (“stolen”), German Low German stohlen (“stolen”), German gestohlen (“stolen”), Swedish stulen (“stolen”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.