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Learnt vs. Learned | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| MNL Tetraglot Newbie Norway Joined 6008 days ago 39 posts - 39 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, French, German Studies: Italian, Mandarin | Message 1 of 34 29 December 2008 at 11:34am | IP Logged |
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I would like som opinions on this matter from native speakers of English.
Somehow, I find that I prefer "learnt", but what do you usually use? I have heard that "learned" is the only accepted spelling in the U.S. What about other places, like England, Scotland, Australia etc? Is "learned" the most frequent alternative there also, or is "learnt" more popular? Edited by MNL on 29 December 2008 at 11:34am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Felixelus Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6846 days ago 237 posts - 244 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 2 of 34 29 December 2008 at 11:58am | IP Logged |
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I'm English and I definitely say "I learnt". Learned just looks and sounds wrong unless you're talking about a learned person (pronounced learn-ed).
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| Kleberson Diglot Senior Member Great Britain Joined 6426 days ago 166 posts - 168 votes Speaks: English*, Portuguese Studies: Italian, Russian, Arabic (Written), Mandarin | Message 3 of 34 29 December 2008 at 12:08pm | IP Logged |
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For me, I'd always say "I learnt". The other way feels unnatural.
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| Alkeides Senior Member Bhutan Joined 6156 days ago 636 posts - 644 votes | Message 4 of 34 29 December 2008 at 12:39pm | IP Logged |
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In the Commonwealth they can be used interchangeably, although I think "learnt" is more traditional.
The same goes for "dreamt"/"dreamed"， "spelt"/"spelled" 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Aquedita Triglot Senior Member Poland myspace.com/aqueda_v Joined 6022 days ago 154 posts - 164 votes Speaks: Polish*, English, Japanese Studies: Mandarin | Message 5 of 34 29 December 2008 at 2:12pm | IP Logged |
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Both Oxford and Longman dictionaries give both forms as correct, "learnt" being British, and "learned" - American.
However... I'm not a native so I'm not sure do I see the problem at a correct angle, but... Isn't it about what are you trying to say? Learned = I mastered it, know it throughly. (I learned this poem by heart.) Learnt = I have the experience, I made an attempt, but the results are a different matter. (I learnt Arabic back in elementary school.) This difference occurs in my native language. Could someone help me out here, please? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| appaero Newbie United States Joined 5836 days ago 11 posts - 11 votes Studies: Japanese, Korean | Message 6 of 34 29 December 2008 at 2:24pm | IP Logged |
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@ Aqeudita
actually I think they generally mean the exact same thing, however, being an American it is much more natural for me to say learned than learnt, i think its just a difference in tendencies between American and British English to be honest. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Graemy Newbie United States Joined 5987 days ago 14 posts - 14 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 7 of 34 29 December 2008 at 3:54pm | IP Logged |
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To me(American) they are intelligible when I'm speaking. Although I would use learned more than learnt. e.g. I have learned seems more appropriate to me, rather than, I have learnt. This is only when writing though. They sound very similar when spoken and would probably not make a difference when heard.
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| Woodpecker Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5819 days ago 351 posts - 590 votes Speaks: English*, Arabic (Written), Arabic (Egyptian) Studies: Arabic (classical) | Message 8 of 34 29 December 2008 at 9:53pm | IP Logged |
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Speaking as an America, "learned" seems far more natural, especially in terms of writing. Certainly, in the US it's by far the most common spelling. Also, I would argue that it's just more contiguous with the rest of the language, as "ed" is a far more common ending in the past tense than "t."
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