Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Blossom]

Could someone explain how to use learned and learnt, please.

1. I LEARNED / LEARNT to ride a bicycle when I was young.
2. I have LEARNED / LEARNT a lot from my mother.
3. I LEARNED / LEARNT of his illness from his mother.

I�m really confused. Thank you.

[asterix]

In the instances you give, they are interchangeable. Learnt is an alternative form of learned, the past participle of the verb to learn.
Learned is also an adjective (pronounced learnid). It means: having much knowledge acquired by study.
e.g. He was a learned man who taught physics at Oxford.
You cannot use learnt as an adjective.
I would suggest you use learned whenever it is necessary, and file learnt in the back of your mind.