Past Tense of Learn

“Learn” is a verb that those studying English will likely learn early on in their journey. Not only is it a fairly frequent verb, often used in other expressions such as “learn one’s lesson” and so on, but it is also among the more meaningful English verbs.

It indeed carries a profound meaning in that it deals with the acquisition of knowledge and understanding, an action that can be life-changing for anyone.

What is the past tense of “learn”?

Learn (verb):

Infinitive	Simple Past	Past Participle
to learn	learned / learnt	learned / learnt

(1) To acquire knowledge, understanding or skill in something

• Infinitive                       to learn
• Simple Past                 learned (learnt in British English)
• Past Participle             learned (learnt in British English)

Conjugation Table of “learn”

Pronoun	Infinitive	Simple Past	Present Perfect	Present Continuous
I	learn	learned	have learned	am learning
You (sing.)	learn	learned	have learned	are learning
He/She/It	learns	learned	has learned	is learning
We	learn	learned	have learned	are learning
You (pl.)	learn	learned	have learned	are learning
They	learn	learned	have learned	are learning

Example Sentences of “learn”

(1) To acquire knowledge, understanding or skill in something

• Children around the world learn mathematics and science in many different ways
• You probably learned your multiplication tables in elementary school
• I heard that you are learning French in your free time, is that true?
• We have learned our lesson after this terrible experience. We’ll never do that again!
• Adults tend to struggle in learning new things quickly.

Focus: Past Tense of Learn

The verb “learn” is a critical one to master since it describes exactly what you are doing as you are studying English. It is also very likely that you will want to discuss things you have learned in the past, both practical and emotional.

Life is a long journey, and we are learning all the time. To help you master the past tense of “learn” we have prepared some example sentences using the following tenses:

• Simple past
• Present perfect
• Past continuous
• Past perfect

Simple Past of “learn”

• She learned the language surprisingly quickly
• After winning the lottery, we quickly learned that money truly can’t buy happiness
• They learned many important lessons in life, none better than the importance of family

Present Perfect of “learn”

• You have learned to scuba dive before, haven’t you?
• I have learned much from your lesson, thank you!
• He has learned German for 10 years already, but even now he can’t speak fluently

Past Continuous of “learn”

• We were learning math with Professor Lupus until he became seriously ill
• I have been learning computer science for the past 6 months, but I’m still struggling to understand what the teacher is saying half the time
• He was learning his lines for the play all day yesterday

Past Perfect of “learn”

• You had learned all that you needed to know from there, so you left. I understand your decision
• I found that I had learned all the wrong things before the exam, which negatively impacted my final scores.

Understanding the Verb “Learn”

Coming from the Old English “leornian,” meaning “to acquire knowledge,” “learn” signifies the process of gaining understanding or skills.

Phrasal Verbs with “Learn”

“Learn” leads to several phrasal verbs:

• Learn about: To acquire knowledge on a particular topic.
  • She’s learning about ancient civilizations in school.
  • I’d love to learn about your culture.
• Learn from: To gain wisdom or knowledge from experiences or individuals.
  • You should learn from your mistakes.
  • He learned a lot from his grandfather.
• Learn by heart: To memorize something thoroughly.
  • I learned the poem by heart for the competition.
  • She learned all the formulas by heart.

Common Mistakes

Be cautious of these typical errors related to “learn”:

• Incorrect: I have learn English for five years.
• Correct: I have learned English for five years.

• Incorrect: They learns quickly.
• Correct: They learn quickly.

We also have a full list of irregular verbs from A – Z on the site which you can access from the link here.

You can check other past tense words and our past tense resources by clicking on the links in the table below and in the resource list below that.

Table 2: Table of Links for irregular Past Tense Verbs

bend	meet	copy	beat
lay	draw	buy	Fly
Drink	Think	wear	dive
rise	dream	Speak	bite
bear	begin	freeze	sink
get	give	take	sing
learn	keep	find	be
say	catch	eat	come
go	know	do	cut
drive	fall	let	make
pay	read	build	become
			teach

We also have articles and worksheets which we will link examples of below, and if you need more you can try the search box.

• Free Simple Past Tense Worksheets
• irregular verb list
• Simple Present Tense Worksheets
• Regular and irregular past tense worksheets
• Free online past tense games.
• Present perfect tense worksheets
• Simple Future tense worksheets
• Simple Past tense ‘ed’ ending rules and handouts