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learn

Forms​

Learn is often irregular in British English (learn/learnt) and normally regular in American English (learn/learned). For other verbs like this, .

note

For the adjective learned (/ˈlɜːnɪd/), (see here).

learn (how) to …​

To talk about consciously learning a method or technique for doing something, we can use learn to … or learn how to …

  • She enjoyed learning (how) to look after young animals.
  • It’s time you learnt (how) to change the oil in the car.

When we talk about less conscious skills and other kinds of knowledge, we generally use learn to … .

  • Children usually learn to walk at around one year old.
  • In the new job, I soon learnt to keep my mouth shut.