learned and learnt

If you're following US writing conventions, use learned.
If you're following UK writing conventions, use learnt.

If you're describing someone as educated, you must use learned.

Learned and learnt

The verb to learn means to acquire knowledge of, or skill in, something through study or experience.

To learn is one of those verbs with both an irregular form and a regular form. (See the table below for some others.)

The past tense and the past participle can be written as either learned or learnt. However, they are not interchangeable, especially in the US.

Americans Demand Learned

In America, learned dominates. The use of learnt as the past tense or past participle of to learn is considered a spelling mistake by many. It will certainly annoy a fair proportion of your readers.

Brits Prefer Learnt

Outside America, learnt is more common, but learned is generally accepted. (This is almost certainly a result of American influence spreading.)

Verbs with Irregular and Regular Forms

The following verbs (like to learn) can be regular or irregular:

Verb	Past Simple	Past Participle
burn	burned OR burnt	burned OR burnt
dream	dreamed OR dreamt	dreamed OR dreamt
learn	learned OR learnt	learned OR learnt
hang	hung also hanged	hung also hanged
smell	smelled OR smelt	smelled OR smelt
spell	spelled OR spelt	spelled OR spelt

As with learnt, the second form (e.g. spelt, dreamt) is more common in British English.

IF YOU MEAN EDUCATED, YOU MUST USE LEARNED

The word learned is used as an adjective meaning knowledgeable, wise or well-educated. It has two syllables and is stressed on the first one (i.e., LEARN + ed).

A Quick Test

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