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learned vs learnt


ollingtonr

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Actually, I think I can answer this myself.

 

The *prescriptive* answer is:

"learned" should used in phrases such as "a learned professor", in which case it is pronounced with two syllables.

"learnt" should be used in phrases like "I learnt a valuable lesson today".

 

The *descriptive* answer in British English is:

"learned" is used in phrases such as "a learned professor", in which case it is pronounced with two syllables.

Either "learnt" or "learned" are used interchangably in phrases like "I learnt a valuable lesson today".

 

The *descriptive* answer in American English is:

There is no such word as "learnt". Use "learned" always.

 

 

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It depends on what impression you want to convey. There are plenty of descriptivists on this list who will tell that going with the flow is the thing to do. "Do what everyone does", and it will be "right" by definition. However - I would point out that if you are WRITING for a PROFESSIONAL JOURNAL (you didn't say professional, but even amateur journals would surely wish to seem professional) then you might want to come across as more, well, learned!

 

That said, the use of "learnt" in America seems to be almost zero even in professional journals, so this could be one of those areas where the "rules" are changing.

 

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Or to put it another way:

 

Active verb in the past tense: I learned French.

Past participle: I have learnt French.

 

This word is going through change. The word "cookt" used to exist.

 

Active verb: I cooked a pie

Participle: I have cookt a pie.

 

However, "cookt" is now obselete. I fear "learned" is going the same as we all confuse "leanrt" and "learned".

 

Learned (meaning educated) is an adjective in its own right (like "intelligent").

 

That's all folks. :D

 

 

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As an engineer, translator, and American, I use both learnt and learned as an adjective. For instance, a person is learned (two syllables), while scientific material is learnt. "The learnt material is very important for the exam on Monday." This, however, is not to be confused with the past participle, which is always learned (which is one syllable and has been used almost exclusively for most of the twentieth century on):

 

"I learned how to derive the Navier-Stokes equations, but the learnt method was dependent on several assumptions."

 

OR

 

"I learned how to derive the Navier-Stokes equations, but method learned was dependent on several assumptions."

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What is the difference between "learned" and "learnt", and when should one be used instead of the other?

 

Thanks.

 

English (as in Queen's English):

"learned": a present participle that performs the role of an adjective by qualifying a following noun.

"learnt": a past participle that performs the role of a adjective by qualifying a noun.

 

These words will be participles only if used along with a helping verb, also called an auxiliary verb like "to be" or "to have". If used without an auxiliary verb, there is a possibility that the word "learnt" is actually a verb and not a participle. This depends entirely upon the sentence structure.

 

Both these words are derived from the infinitive of the verb "to learn". While "learned" refers to a current state of acquired knowledge of the accusative noun, in this case the the noun following the word "learned"; the word "learnt" refers to a past incident that caused the accusative noun to become aware of something or gain some knowledge.

 

Examples:

"Stephen Hawkins is a learned man." [present participle: "learned"; auxiliary verb: "is" (to be)]

"I have learnt a lot of thing by attending this class." [past participle: "learnt"; auxiliary verb: "have" (to have)]

"I learnt about it last night." [verb: "learnt"; auxiliary verb: none, not required, because "learnt" is a verb in it's own right]

 

If the sentence "I learnt about it last night." sounds confusing as to why "learnt" is a verb, try rephrasing it as "I did learn about it last night.". Although there is a subtle difference between the two sentences, they convey the same meaning.

 

N.B.: North American English is rather "liberal" in it's usage of vocabulary and grammar, many of which may be considered wrong according to Queen's English.

 

Hope this helps.

 

[Pardon me if there is any grammatical mistake.]

 

-Regards-

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  • 1 year later...

Learnt is a verb in its own right

 

Liberal in its usage.

 

An easy way to remember which to use. It's always means it is or it has. If it doesn't mean either use its.

 

English (as in Queen's English):

"learned": a present participle that performs the role of an adjective by qualifying a following noun.

"learnt": a past participle that performs the role of a adjective by qualifying a noun.

 

These words will be participles only if used along with a helping verb, also called an auxiliary verb like "to be" or "to have". If used without an auxiliary verb, there is a possibility that the word "learnt" is actually a verb and not a participle. This depends entirely upon the sentence structure.

 

Both these words are derived from the infinitive of the verb "to learn". While "learned" refers to a current state of acquired knowledge of the accusative noun, in this case the the noun following the word "learned"; the word "learnt" refers to a past incident that caused the accusative noun to become aware of something or gain some knowledge.

 

Examples:

"Stephen Hawkins is a learned man." [present participle: "learned"; auxiliary verb: "is" (to be)]

"I have learnt a lot of thing by attending this class." [past participle: "learnt"; auxiliary verb: "have" (to have)]

"I learnt about it last night." [verb: "learnt"; auxiliary verb: none, not required, because "learnt" is a verb in it's own right]

 

If the sentence "I learnt about it last night." sounds confusing as to why "learnt" is a verb, try rephrasing it as "I did learn about it last night.". Although there is a subtle difference between the two sentences, they convey the same meaning.

 

N.B.: North American English is rather "liberal" in it's usage of vocabulary and grammar, many of which may be considered wrong according to Queen's English.

 

Hope this helps.

 

[Pardon me if there is any grammatical mistake.]

 

-Regards-

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The *descriptive* answer in British English is:

"learned" is used in phrases such as "a learned professor", in which case it is pronounced with two syllables.

Either "learnt" or "learned" are used interchangably in phrases like "I learnt a valuable lesson today".

 

The *descriptive* answer in American English is:

There is no such word as "learnt". Use "learned" always.

 

 

Whilst I agree with most of your post, I must take issue with the term "British English". In England, we do not speak British English, nor do we speak British Scottish or British welsh, we speak English, Scottish or Welsh, (other languages may also be spoken). I also understand that you may have been using the term to distinguish from American English, but this extra distinction in unnecessary. Please feel free to call the American version "American English" but refrain from using that awful and horrendously incorrect term, Thank you

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In England, we do not speak British English, nor do we speak British Scottish or British welsh, we speak English, Scottish or Welsh,

 

Scottish?

 

Presumably you mean Scots? Or Gaelic? Or possibly Ulster Scots?

 

And when you say 'England' do you really mean Great Britain or the United Kingdom?

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This thread has been helpful, thank you to all who contributed.

 

As an immigrant from to America from England, I have noticed that there are times we could be speaking different languages, and I do refer to the language spoken in America as American English, and the language spoken in England as English, but I don't find it offensive when Americans call it British English. It's awkward when we supposedly speak the same language, even though it's really not. You need a way to clarify, and surely no offense can be meant.

 

Regarding the name of the country/countries - it is the United Kingdom of Great Britain, which contains the countries England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, so people do sometimes refer to themselves as English rather than British. I do. It really isn't something to get bothered about though.

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This thread has been helpful, thank you to all who contributed.

 

As an immigrant from to America from England, I have noticed that there are times we could be speaking different languages, and I do refer to the language spoken in America as American English, and the language spoken in England as English, but I don't find it offensive when Americans call it British English. It's awkward when we supposedly speak the same language, even though it's really not. You need a way to clarify, and surely no offense can be meant.

 

Regarding the name of the country/countries - it is the United Kingdom of Great Britain, which contains the countries England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, so people do sometimes refer to themselves as English rather than British. I do. It really isn't something to get bothered about though.

 

I think it's the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which includes the countries (in order of importance) Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England.

 

Not sure why I'm replying to this. I just came across this post and then my inner pedant came out.

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  • 2 months later...
Actually, I think I can answer this myself.

 

The *prescriptive* answer is:

"learned" should used in phrases such as "a learned professor", in which case it is pronounced with two syllables.

"learnt" should be used in phrases like "I learnt a valuable lesson today".

 

The *descriptive* answer in British English is:

"learned" is used in phrases such as "a learned professor", in which case it is pronounced with two syllables.

Either "learnt" or "learned" are used interchangably in phrases like "I learnt a valuable lesson today".

 

The *descriptive* answer in American English is:

There is no such word as "learnt". Use "learned" always.

Yes this is a satisfactory answer.

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The *descriptive* answer in British English is:

"learned" is used in phrases such as "a learned professor", in which case it is pronounced with two syllables.

Either "learnt" or "learned" are used interchangably in phrases like "I learnt a valuable lesson today".

 

The *descriptive* answer in American English is:

There is no such word as "learnt". Use "learned" always.

 

 

 

 

Whilst I agree with most of your post, I must take issue with the term "British English". In England, we do not speak British English, nor do we speak British Scottish or British welsh, we speak English, Scottish or Welsh, (other languages may also be spoken). I also understand that you may have been using the term to distinguish from American English, but this extra distinction in unnecessary. Please feel free to call the American version "American English" but refrain from using that awful and horrendously incorrect term, Thank you

 

:rolleyes: Englishman, I find your response not only off topic, but very arrogant. The terms "British English" and "American English" are primarily used by Americans, a population that makes up 2/3 of the English speaking population. When the majority of the people that speak English use a word in daily conversation, it generally becomes apart of the English lexicon, much to the difference of other languages that require regulatory entities to govern lexicography. Cambridge, Webster and Oxford recognize British English as a valid noun (or mass noun) and actually use it in the search feature for those searching for a word, allowing one to distinguish British English from other spoken English.

 

Basically, where I am going with this is to ask someone not to use the word British English because you "take issue" with it and find the "distinction" unnecessary is 100% personal and adds no value to the 'learned vs learnt' thread. You have actually called the word British English an "incorrect term"; however, it is a correct and valid *word* within the English lexicon and I strongly encourage people to use the word in order to differentiate the majority of English speakers in the world, Americans, apart from the British English speakers.

 

I could go on and I could become even more arrogant that you; however, my comment, as yours is adding no value to this thread. You just needed to be corrected on your inaccurate post regarding the British English dialect.

 

Regards,

 

A non-British English speaker

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"Presumably you mean Scots? Or Gaelic? Or possibly Ulster Scots?

 

And when you say 'England' do you really mean Great Britain or the United Kingdom?

 

When one refers to England they mean the Nation "England". The Country where the English language was developed. There is no order of Importance between the member nations of neither the United Kingdom nor Great Britain. England is the Largest country and economy of these nations. To use the latter terms would to be like calling Americans "united statians".

 

English as a language should be called "English" any deviation from English should contain a prefix, such as American English, as this is a much more recently, modified version of the English language, as spoken in England.

Scotland, Wales and Ireland have their own languages. In English these languages are named Scottish, Welsh and Irish respectively. The terms Gaelic and Celtic are umbrella terms encompassing more than just the specific dialects of these nations. They are spoken as minority languages.

I am English, was born in England but I am also British and a member of the United Kingdom. I speak Welsh, or Cymraeg if I chose to pronounce it in Welsh, not English.

 

Please excuse me, I only came here as I was interested in the "Learned vs learnt" subject. Then stumbled upon levels of ignorance that I could not refrain from addressing.

 

I learnt how to use English at school and became a learned user of the language through academic study at university.

 

"Definition of learned

adjective

 

 

  • (of a person) having acquired much knowledge through study: a learned, generous, and notoriously absent-minded man
  • showing, requiring, or characterized by learning; scholarly:an article in a learned journal
  • British used as a courteous description of a lawyer in certain formal contexts:my learned friend

 

Definition of learn

verb (past and past participle learned /ləːnt, ləːnd/ or chiefly British learnt /ləːnt/)

 

[with object] 1gain or acquire knowledge of or skill in (something) by study, experience, or being taught:they’d started learning French [with infinitive]:she is learning to play the piano [no object]:we learn from experience"

 

Quotes from the Oxford (University) Dictionary of English.

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What is the difference between "learned" and "learnt", and when should one be used instead of the other?

 

Thanks.

 

Regardless of all other opinions "learnt" isn't a "real" word. It is a question of tense. Not all words are tensed the same. The Learn is tensed: Learn - Learning - Learned. Not to be confused with Spend: Spend - Spending - Spent. If you wish to be considered intelligent use "learned", if you wish to be considered simple use "learnt".

 

As an aside, when one refers to a person as learned (lear-ned, as in my esteemed and learned friend) it is a shift of the emphasis not a difference of spelling from learned (past tense), they are called hetero-phones and are spelled the same but pronounced differently and mean different things. (ie: lead or lead or lead)

 

Happy Writing....

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Learnt is a verb in its own right

 

Liberal in its usage.

 

An easy way to remember which to use. It's always means it is or it has. If it doesn't mean either use its.

 

Thanks for the correction. I should not have used "it's." Also, it should be "a lot of things." Moreover, the closing quotes should come after the full stop. I have learnt quite a few things since writing the original post, but I am far from being a learned man.

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Regardless of all other opinions "learnt" isn't a "real" word. It is a question of tense. Not all words are tensed the same. The Learn is tensed: Learn - Learning - Learned. Not to be confused with Spend: Spend - Spending - Spent. If you wish to be considered intelligent use "learned", if you wish to be considered simple use "learnt".

 

As an aside, when one refers to a person as learned (lear-ned, as in my esteemed and learned friend) it is a shift of the emphasis not a difference of spelling from learned (past tense), they are called hetero-phones and are spelled the same but pronounced differently and mean different things. (ie: lead or lead or lead)

 

Happy Writing....

 

"Learnt" is a real word in English, just as mush as "gelernt" is in German. English is an Anglo-Saxon language, and one way to get a good grip of English grammar would be to study German grammar.

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English (as in Queen's English):

"learned": a present participle that performs the role of an adjective by qualifying a following noun.

"learnt": a past participle that performs the role of a adjective by qualifying a noun.

 

These words will be participles only if used along with a helping verb, also called an auxiliary verb like "to be" or "to have". If used without an auxiliary verb, there is a possibility that the word "learnt" is actually a verb and not a participle. This depends entirely upon the sentence structure.

 

Both these words are derived from the infinitive of the verb "to learn". While "learned" refers to a current state of acquired knowledge of the accusative noun, in this case the the noun following the word "learned"; the word "learnt" refers to a past incident that caused the accusative noun to become aware of something or gain some knowledge.

 

Examples:

"Stephen Hawkins is a learned man." [present participle: "learned"; auxiliary verb: "is" (to be)]

"I have learnt a lot of thing by attending this class." [past participle: "learnt"; auxiliary verb: "have" (to have)]

"I learnt about it last night." [verb: "learnt"; auxiliary verb: none, not required, because "learnt" is a verb in it's own right]

 

If the sentence "I learnt about it last night." sounds confusing as to why "learnt" is a verb, try rephrasing it as "I did learn about it last night.". Although there is a subtle difference between the two sentences, they convey the same meaning.

 

N.B.: North American English is rather "liberal" in it's usage of vocabulary and grammar, many of which may be considered wrong according to Queen's English.

 

Hope this helps.

 

[Pardon me if there is any grammatical mistake.]

 

-Regards-

 

Re-posting with corrections (and requesting the moderators to please allow this):

 

English (as in Queen's English):

"learned": a present participle that performs the role of an adjective by qualifying a following noun.

"learnt": a past participle that performs the role of a adjective by qualifying a noun.

 

These words will be participles only if used along with a helping verb, also called an auxiliary verb like "to be" or "to have." If used without an auxiliary verb, there is a possibility that the word "learnt" is actually a verb and not a participle. This depends entirely upon the sentence structure.

 

Both these words are derived from the infinitive of the verb "to learn." While "learned" refers to a current state of acquired knowledge of the accusative noun, in this case the the noun following the word "learned;" the word "learnt" refers to a past incident that caused the accusative noun to become aware of something or gain some knowledge.

 

Examples:

"Stephen Hawkins is a learned man." [present participle: "learned;" auxiliary verb: "is" (to be)]

"I have learnt a lot of things by attending this class." [past participle: "learnt;" auxiliary verb: "have" (to have)]

"I learnt about it last night." [verb: "learnt;" auxiliary verb: none, not required, because "learnt" is a verb in its own right]

 

If the sentence "I learnt about it last night," sounds confusing as to why "learnt" is a verb, try rephrasing it as "I did learn about it last night." Although there is a subtle difference between the two sentences, they convey the same meaning.

 

N.B.: North American English is rather "liberal" in its usage of vocabulary and grammar, many of which may be considered wrong according to Queen's English.

 

Hope this helps.

 

[Pardon me if there is any grammatical mistake.]

 

-Regards-

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