burgle or break in

[san2612]

Multiple choice:
1. Chris is in a terrible state. Her house was ……………….last night
A robbed B stolen C burgled D broken in
I chose D. broken in but the answer is C. burgled
I find no difference:
_break in/ into sth: to get into a building or car using force, usually to steal sth.
_burgle: to enter a building illegal, usually using force, and steal from it
(Oxford Advance Learner's Compass)

 

[Barb_D]

You break into a house, and your house is broken into.

Burgle and break into, burgled and broken into -- those match, but not just broken in.

When your shoes or jeans fit you just right because they've been worn a bit, those are broken in.

*I'm not sure if it's break into or break in to, and welcome a correction on that.

 

[konungursvia]

To break in means to make fit for use, as in leather shoes. To break into means to force entry, as in a house.

 

[AlexAD]

Hello.

May we say, 'Her house robbed last night'?

Thanks,

Alex.

 

[bhaisahab]

Hello.

May we say, 'Her house robbed last night'?

Thanks,

Alex.

No. She was robbed, her house was broken into/burgled.

 

[AlexAD]

But we can say, 'He robbed the house', can't we?

 

[SoothingDave]

But we can say, 'He robbed the house', can't we?

You can, and people do, but the correct word is "burgled."

 

[5jj]

You rob a bank, store, train, but burgle a house.

 

[Barb_D]

If you accept "rob" as suitable for a house (and I do -- I have no problem with the utterance of a homeowner who returns home and cries in dismay, "We've been robbed!" but clearly the others don't accept this) you need to say it "WAS robbed," not just "robbed."

 

[emsr2d2]

If you accept "rob" as suitable for a house (and I do -- I have no problem with the utterance of a homeowner who returns home and cries in dismay, "We've been robbed!" but clearly the others don't accept this) you need to say it "WAS robbed," not just "robbed."

I would say that the different utterances on returning home to find that there has been a burglary would depend on whether you referred to the building or to yourself:

1) I've been robbed!
2) The house has been burgled!

 

[Barb_D]

I am taking a wild-ass guess here, but I'd say that at least 85% of Americans would NOT say "We've been burgled!" We'd say "We've been robbed!"

They would not say "Our house was burgled while we were on vacation last week." They'd say "Our house was robbed."

Really. We would.

 

[5jj]

I do really believe that people who could take a wild-ass guess could say "Our house was robbed."

Sigh.


;-)

 

[SoothingDave]

The burglary/robbery distinction is a legal one more than one in common use.

 

[bhaisahab]

The burglary/robbery distinction is a legal one more than one in common use.

I'm pretty certain that in BrE a person would say "My house was burgled/broken into" or "We were broken into".

 

[BobK]

To break in means to make fit for use, as in leather shoes. To break into means to force entry, as in a house.

:up: And the use can extend to the field of domestication. You 'break in' a horse too.

b

PS We can only be thankful that nobody so far has mentioned 'burglarized' - , someone just did.

 

[emsr2d2]

Ha ha, I was just sitting here thinking that I was glad that "burglarize/burglarise" hadn't reared its ugly head yet!!

Anyway, I should have pointed out that I was only talking about BrE with my previous post. Having considered all possibilities, I've concluded that I would/might say:

We've/I've been burgled.
The house has been burgled.
The house was broken into (but this does not make it clear if anything was stolen).
My mate was robbed last week (this would suggest, to me at least, that something was stolen from his body, not his house, ie his wallet was taken)
My house was done over at the weekend (slang)

I would never say:

My house was robbed (that would sound, to me at least again, as if someone actually stole my house!)

As someone pointed out earlier, I believe there is a definite legal difference between robbery and burglary.

 

[SoothingDave]

:up: And the use can extend to the field of domestication. You 'break in' a horse too.

b

PS We can only be thankful that nobody so far has mentioned 'burglarized' - , someone just did.

Or the Hamburglar.