Question 1

What is the difference between learn and teach?

Accepted Answer

"Learn" means to receive or gain knowledge — you are the student: "I am learning French" (I am gaining the ability to speak French). "Teach" means to give knowledge to someone else — you are the instructor: "She teaches French" (she gives French lessons to students). The key is who has the knowledge at the end: the learner gains it, the teacher gives it. A very common error is "He learned me to drive" — this is wrong because "learn" cannot take a person as a direct object. The correct form is "He taught me to drive." If you can ask "who received the knowledge?" and answer with the subject, use "learn." If the subject gave knowledge to someone else, use "teach."

Question 2

Why is "He learnt me to swim" wrong?

Accepted Answer

"He learnt me to swim" is wrong because "learn" means to receive knowledge — you cannot receive someone else. The sentence would mean "he received me to swim," which makes no sense. The correct form is "He taught me to swim" (he gave me the skill of swimming). This error is extremely common in some dialects and informal speech, but it is always considered incorrect in standard written English and in examinations. A helpful memory trick: "learn" and "student" go together (the student learns), while "teach" and "person" go together (you teach a person). If the sentence includes a person object after the verb, you almost certainly need "teach," not "learn."

Question 3

Is "learnt" or "learned" correct in British English?

Accepted Answer

Both forms are correct, but "learnt" is more common in British English: "I learnt to cook at university." "Learned" is the standard form in American English and is also used in British English, so it is never wrong. There is one important exception: when "learned" is used as an adjective meaning "knowledgeable" or "scholarly," it is always spelt "learned" (not "learnt") and pronounced with two syllables: "She is a very learned professor." Several other verbs follow this British/American split: "burnt" and "burned," "dreamt" and "dreamed," "spelt" and "spelled" — the "-t" ending is more British, and the "-ed" ending is more universal. In Cambridge exams, both spellings are accepted.

Learn vs Teach Exercises

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-ed vs -ing Adjectives

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Present Perfect

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Past Simple