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English question

Which of the following is better:

A. I had my wallet stolen.
B. My wallet got stolen.
C. Others

English is not my first language and any suggestions would be appreciated.
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"My wallet was stolen," is correct and direct.

"I had my wallet stolen," is ambiguous.
On the one hand, it could imply that you were the passive victim of the theft;
on the other, it means you organised, asked or paid someone to steal it - implying that it was part of an act of deception. A novelist might write these words as the speech of a character who is perhaps deceiving a detective, spouse, colleague etc.
It's the kind of sloppy speech that could create misunderstandings.

"My wallet got stolen," is colloquial North American, typical of people with low or no education.
In colloquial US speech, "got" is frequently used in 3 different ways:
1. with an adverb,
2. in place of many other verbs
3. or as a helper word to create a passive voice.

In countries that watch a lot of North American TV and movies, these shifts in language are generally well understood. Other English-speaking countries sometimes adopt some American colloquialisms, but by no means all. The frequent use of "got" - in all three ways - is emerging.
Many Americanisms are unknown and make no sense except in US territories.
you can never go wrong with...."some c*nt stole my wallet"
Jill1990 · 31-35, F
“My wallet was stolen” would be better.
Tanaka · 46-50, M
Thank you for all the answers.
Someone said A sounds like I asked someone to intentionally steal my wallet. Do you agree?
MartinTheFirst · 26-30, M
@Tanaka Context matters, no one would think that way if you just said that to them. This is just overthinking things.
deadgerbil · 26-30
@Tanaka had can be defined as having experienced or undergoing something

You experienced the theft of your wallet> you had your wallet stolen
Tanaka · 46-50, M
@MartinTheFirst OK. Thank you for elaborating.
SW-User
My wallet was stolen
My wallet was stolen
deadgerbil · 26-30
Either or. It's personal preference, and from what I can tell here, your command of English is

Aysel · F
Neither of those two, “my wallet was stolen,” would be the correct way.
iamBen · 61-69, M
My wallet was stolen.
WintaTheAngle · 41-45, M
My wallet was stolen.
SW-User
My wallet was stolen
R5000 · 41-45, M
pancakeslam · 41-45, M
Either one is fine but it depends if you want you or the wallet to be the subject. 'My wallet was stolen' not 'got' works better, however.

that'll be 99 cents for doing your homework or I'll steal your wallet
deadgerbil · 26-30
@SkeetSkeet my one professor associated with Oxford loved my English lol
SkeetSkeet · 100+, F
@deadgerbil you should work for the dictionary
deadgerbil · 26-30
@SkeetSkeet if my new job next week doesn't pan out then maybe lol
MartinTheFirst · 26-30, M
both work equally well
StevetheSleeve · 31-35, M
B or C. Some motherfucker stole my wallet.
@StevetheSleeve i change my answer to steves hahah so thats C

 
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