Rob past tense
Meaning of rob
to take property unlawfully from (a person or place) by force or threat of force.
Infinitive
- 1. They often rob banks in old action movies.
- 2. He always says that if he were a pirate, he'd surely rob the rich to give to the poor.
- 3. The thought that someone might rob her during her vacation never leaves her mind.
Past Simple
- 1. The burglar robbed a convenience store late last night.
- 2. She robbed someone in a metro, but was caught by a policman.
- 3. They robbed the bank in broad daylight, shocking the entire town.
Past Participle
- 1. The painting was robbed from the gallery late last night.
- 2. All the treasures had been robbed by the pirates before the authorities arrived.
- 3. The jewels were being robbed when the security alarm went off.
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Bare infinitive
- Routine or Habitual Actions. To speak about routines or actions that happen regularly.Example. I always rob a few minutes of extra sleep in the morning.Example. He robs Peter to pay Paul, as the old saying goes.
- General Facts or Truths. To describe actions or events that are generally true or facts.Example. I always rob a few minutes of extra sleep in the morning.Example. He robs Peter to pay Paul, as the old saying goes.
Past Simple
- Completed Actions in the Past. To talk about actions or events that happened at a specific time in the past and are now finished.Example. The thief robbed the bank yesterday.Example. He robbed a store, ran away, and then hid in an alley.Example. When I was young, I often robbed the cookie jar.
- Sequences of Actions in the Past. To list actions that happened one after another in the past.Example. The thief robbed the bank yesterday.Example. He robbed a store, ran away, and then hid in an alley.Example. When I was young, I often robbed the cookie jar.
- Habitual Actions in the Past. To describe actions that were regular in the past but not anymore.Example. The thief robbed the bank yesterday.Example. He robbed a store, ran away, and then hid in an alley.Example. When I was young, I often robbed the cookie jar.
Past Participle
- Perfect Tenses.Example. The museum has been robbed twice this year.Example. By the time the police arrived, the thief had already robbed the store.Example. By next month, I will have robbed myself of enough sleep.Example. The jewelry store was robbed during the night.Example. The robbed tourists couldn’t believe their misfortune.
- Present Perfect. To talk about actions that happened at an unspecified time in the past and have relevance to the present.Example. The museum has been robbed twice this year.Example. By the time the police arrived, the thief had already robbed the store.Example. By next month, I will have robbed myself of enough sleep.Example. The jewelry store was robbed during the night.Example. The robbed tourists couldn’t believe their misfortune.
- Past Perfect. To describe an action that was completed before another action or time in the past.Example. The museum has been robbed twice this year.Example. By the time the police arrived, the thief had already robbed the store.Example. By next month, I will have robbed myself of enough sleep.Example. The jewelry store was robbed during the night.Example. The robbed tourists couldn’t believe their misfortune.
- Future Perfect. To indicate that an action will have been completed by a certain future time.Example. The museum has been robbed twice this year.Example. By the time the police arrived, the thief had already robbed the store.Example. By next month, I will have robbed myself of enough sleep.Example. The jewelry store was robbed during the night.Example. The robbed tourists couldn’t believe their misfortune.
- Passive Voice. To describe an action that happens to the subject, focusing on the action rather than who performs it.Example. The museum has been robbed twice this year.Example. By the time the police arrived, the thief had already robbed the store.Example. By next month, I will have robbed myself of enough sleep.Example. The jewelry store was robbed during the night.Example. The robbed tourists couldn’t believe their misfortune.
- Adjectival Use. Sometimes, the Past Participle is used as an adjective to describe a state resulting from an action.Example. The museum has been robbed twice this year.Example. By the time the police arrived, the thief had already robbed the store.Example. By next month, I will have robbed myself of enough sleep.Example. The jewelry store was robbed during the night.Example. The robbed tourists couldn’t believe their misfortune.
Common mistakes
— 01
Confusing Forms
Mistake. A common mistake is confusing the simple past form of 'rob' (robbed) with its past participle form, which is also 'robbed'. While the forms are identical in this case, their usage is not. The simple past is used for actions that happened at a specific time in the past (e.g., 'He robbed a bank yesterday.'), whereas the past participle is typically used in perfect tenses or passive voice (e.g., 'The bank has been robbed.').
— 02
Misusing Past Participle
Mistake. Another mistake is using the past participle form without an auxiliary verb when forming perfect tenses or passive constructions. For example, saying 'He robbed by the police' instead of the correct form 'He was robbed by the police.' The past participle 'robbed' needs to be accompanied by the correct form of 'to be' to construct the passive voice correctly.
— 03
Misapplication in Irregular Verbs
Mistake. While 'rob' follows a regular pattern where the simple past and past participle forms are created by adding -ed to the base form, a common mistake is misapplying this rule to irregular verbs, assuming they all follow the same pattern. For instance, learners might incorrectly apply the pattern seen in 'rob' to an irregular verb like 'sing' and say 'singed' instead of the correct forms 'sang' (simple past) and 'sung' (past participle). This mistake highlights the importance of recognizing and memorizing the correct forms of irregular verbs, which do not always follow the predictable -ed ending pattern.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the past simple form of 'rob'?
How is the past participle of 'rob' used in sentences?
Can you give examples of sentences using 'robbed' in both the past simple and past participle forms?