When to use 'learnt' and when to use 'learned.'?

Question

'I learnt French at school' or 'I learned French at school'
'I have learnt to swim by now' or 'I have learned to swim by now.'

English is my second language and I have mastered most things but I'm still unsure about this.

No I don't mean learn-ed for an educated person I mean learned as the past of to learn.

Ive had so many different answers here.:.they are interchangeable;only use learnt;one is UK the other US..
who do I believe??

Answer 1

Learnt and learned are not the same thing at all.

Learnt is the past tense of the verb to learn and is used in the simple past (preterite). I learnt French at school.

Learned is the past participle and used in the perfect tense. I have learned to speak French.

A verb which behaves in a similar way is dream.

Last night dreamt I was in an aeroplane.

I have often dreamed of winning the lottery.

However, as most native English speakers don't know the difference and the tendency is to standardize or use either form I wouldn't bother about which form you use; however strictly, the above is correct.

Answer 2

I have a degree in English but that's no guarantee that I am right here!!!
These two words are both the past tense of the verb "learn" and, I think, they are interchangeable.

For interest's sake look up the websites below for each word. This won't really clarify things for you but it will give you a whole lot more to think about...

Perhaps someone will come up with a more learned answer!!!

Why not just believe us ALL. We could ALL be right. Stop worrying so much. Your command of English is better than most English people I know...

Answer 3

learnt.

Learned (pronounced lurn edd) is an adjective to describe someone who is educated.

In a similar way, the past tense of 'to run' is 'ran' and not 'runned'.

On another note, you example ''I have learnt to swim by now' is gramatically incorrect!!! Either leave the 'by now' bit out or change it to 'I would/should have learnt to swim by now'.

Looks to me like 'learnt' is proper English rather than American English. Use that.

Answer 4

Learned Or Learnt

Answer 5

Learnt Or Learned

Answer 6

Dom is correct.And for those who associate learnt as being British and learned as being American,even Webster's dictionary,that bastion of good ol' American English,lists learned as being only an adjective and learnt as being both the past tense and present perfect tense of the verb 'learn.'

Answer 7

From what I have learnt, you can use learnt or learned interchangeably, but if it is a learned habit, you can't have a learnt habit. In other words you learnt to use learnt in verbs, but the use of learnt as an adjective would be a badly learned practise.

Answer 8

learnt and learned are the same thing. They are both in the past tense. it's just your choice to either use them both or not. Most people use "learned" because learnt is not commonly used anymore.
Hope this helps

Answer 9

well as a verb, both are correct; however, Americans prefer to use 'learned' while British prefer to use 'learnt' .. But as an adj. , u can only use 'learned' ..

Answer 10

The three forms of learn are:

learn/ learnt/learnt, same as dream/dreamt/dreamt.
learned is used only as an adjective to a person, e.g., "a learned person" means a knowledgable person. learned is not supposed to use as past or participle. I don't know where Kate B learnt her English from.