How to Use Learned or Learnt

August 6, 2025

5 min read

By Yash, D

US English prefers learned as the past tense of learn. Learnt is the original past tense, and commonly accepted worldwide.

Past Tense Of

Learned or learnt? Shown in text conversation. — Forms of the verb ‘to *learn*‘ shown in conversation.

What’s the past tense of “learn”?

The short answer is that technically both learnt and learned are correct past tenses of the verb learn. Which is the correct choice on the individual level is a separate question, which we’ll address right now. Let’s learn more about it!

👍🏼Usage Note

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Most people learn to read as children.

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I’ve forgotten most of what I learnt at school. (UK English)

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He learned a valuable lesson that day. (US English)

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By the time the course ended, I had learn everything.

Tense	Examples: tenses of “learn” in sentences
present tense	The book is about how children learn.
past tense	I learnt the poem by heart.
past participle	I had learned a lot from my father growing up.

Learn, which means “to get knowledge or skill in a new subject or activity”, has two accepted forms as its past tense and past participle: learnt and learned. Learnt is irregular because it ends in -t, not -ed; whereas learned clearly adheres to the regular rule of verb conjugation by adding an -ed. Here are other verbs in English that share two accepted past tense forms, just like learn.

Learn, verb conjugations

	Present	Simple	I learn	I learned/learnt	I will learn
Continuous	I am learning	I was learning	I will be learning
Perfect	I have learned/learnt	I had learned/learnt	I will have learned/learnt
Perfect Continuous	I have been learning	I had been learning	I will have been learning

Tenses of learn (both "learned" and "learnt" are accepted).

base verb	past tense	past participle
lean	leant/leaned	leant/leaned
leap	leapt/leaped	leapt/leaped
learn	learnt/learned	learnt/learned
lend	lent	lent
bend	bent	bent
deal	dealt	dealt

British English or American English: learnt vs learned

Which past tense form of learn to use depends on where you live. American English, thanks to Noah Webster, popularized learned as the standard past tense. By contrast, UK English prefers learnt. The same is true for other verbs that share the same pattern (i.e., spell, leap, lean, smell, and so on).

💡Study Tip

Practice using the verb in different tenses with example sentences to memorize the correct forms.

Examples of learn (present tense) in sentences

Example
He had the opportunity to learn English in Australia.
The book is about how children learn.
He’s learning to play the trumpet. (present participle)
Everyone in the class had the opportunity to learn from each other.
Most people learn to read as children.

Examples of learned/learnt (past simple)

Example
We only learnt who the new teacher was a few days ago.
Today we learnt how to use the new software.
I first learnt of his death many years later.
She received no training but quickly learnt on the job.
I learnt the poem by heart.

Examples of learned/learnt as a past participle

Example
I had learned a lot from my father.
She learned from watching others.
He learned to ride when he was about three years old.
I’ve forgotten most of what I learned at school.
How did they react when they learned the news?

Origin of the word learn

Old English leornian “to get knowledge, be cultivated; study, read, think about,” from Proto-Germanic *lisnojanan.

Worksheet: Learned or Learnt

FAQs

Is “learnt” or “learned” correct?
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Both “learnt” and “learned” are grammatically correct past tenses of “learn.” “Learned” is preferred in American English, while “learnt” is favored in British English.

What’s the past participle of “learn”?
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Both “learnt” and “learned” function as correct past participles. American English generally uses “learned,” while British English prefers “learnt.”

Is “learn” a regular or irregular verb?
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“Learn” is considered both regular and irregular. It has two accepted past tense forms (“learnt” and “learned”). “Learned” is regular (-ed), while “learnt” is irregular.

How does US English use “learn”?
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American English predominantly uses “learned” as both the past tense and past participle of “learn,” aligning with the regular verb conjugation pattern.

How does UK English use “learn”?
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UK English generally prefers “learnt” as both the past tense and past participle form, reflecting a preference for the irregular form.

Sources

Etymonline, learn.

Yash, D. "How to Use Learned or Learnt." Grammarflex, Aug 24, 2025, https://grammarflex.com/learned-or-learnt/.

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