The Verb "Steal" in English

Conjugation of "To Steal"

The verb "steal" is an irregular verb. (This means that "steal" does not form its simple past tense or its past participle by adding "-ed" or "-d" to the base form.)

The Five Forms of "To Steal"

Form	steal	Alternative Name
Base Form	steal	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	steals	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	stole	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	stealing	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	stolen	[no alternative name]

"To Steal" in All the Tenses

The tables below show how "steal" conjugates in the past, present, and future tenses.

Past Tenses

Person	Simple Past	Past Progressive Tense	Past Perfect Tense	Past Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	stole stole stole stole stole stole The simple past tense is for a completed activity that happened in the past.	was stealing were stealing was stealing were stealing were stealing were stealing The past progressive tense is for an ongoing activity in the past. Often, it is used to set the scene for another action.	had stolen had stolen had stolen had stolen had stolen had stolen The past perfect tense is for emphasizing that an action was completed before another took place.	had been stealing had been stealing had been stealing had been stealing had been stealing had been stealing The past perfect progressive tense is for showing that an ongoing action in the past has ended.

Present Tenses

Person	Simple Present	Present Progressive Tense	Present Perfect Tense	Present Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	steal steal steals steal steal steal The simple present tense is mostly for a fact or a habit.	am stealing are stealing is stealing are stealing are stealing are stealing The present progressive tense is for an ongoing action in the present.	have stolen have stolen has stolen have stolen have stolen have stolen The present perfect tense is for an action that began in the past. (Often, the action continues into the present.)	have been stealing have been stealing has been stealing have been stealing have been stealing have been stealing The present perfect progressive tense is for a continuous activity that began in the past and continues into the present (or finished very recently).

Future Tenses

Person	Simple Future	Future Progressive Tense	Future Perfect Tense	Future Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	will steal will steal will steal will steal will steal will steal The simple future tense is for an action that will occur in the future.	will be stealing will be stealing will be stealing will be stealing will be stealing will be stealing The future progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will occur in the future.	will have stolen will have stolen will have stolen will have stolen will have stolen will have stolen The future perfect tense is for an action that will have been completed at some point in the future.	will have been stealing will have been stealing will have been stealing will have been stealing will have been stealing will have been stealing The future perfect progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will be completed at some specified time in the future.

Most Common Irregular Verbs

The two most common irregular verbs in English are "be" and "have." These pages give more details about these two verbs:

Here are the next 10 most common irregular verbs in English:

see, say, go, come, know, get, give, become, find, and think

This page was written by Craig Shrives.