Earned or earnt?

[InsaneSimon]

Hey there,
sorry for the dumb question but it's about two years that I'm curious about it. What's correct between earned and earnt?

Firefox tells me that "earnt" doesn't exist but my grammar book says the opposite!

Thank you :D

[britton]

Earned is US English, Earnt is UK English.

We're two people divided by a common language. :)

[Daniel]

Well..

Earned is a word.

Earnt is not a word.

I think your grammar book is probably wrong - I don't believe the ed can be replaced with a t in this case.

[britton]

Again,

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/earnt

[Daniel]

Well the Oxford Dictionary doesn't appear to suggest it's a word.. but if the Wiktionary says so then I believe it :) My dissitation would have been much more interesting if I could of quoted some of the many innaccuracies on wikipedia.

I think it's 'acceptable' at best, but I really wouldn't include it in anything that isn't equal or below an application to mcdonalds.

[britton]

Well the Oxford Dictionary doesn't appear to suggest it's a word.. but if the Wiktionary says so then I believe it :) My dissitation would have been much more interesting if I could of quoted some of the many innaccuracies on wikipedia.

I think it's 'acceptable' at best, but I really wouldn't include it in anything that isn't equal or below an application to mcdonalds.

Fine, fine, we'll use Oxford.

http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutspelling/learnt

Years ago I would have agreed with you when I encountered people saying "spelt" but having looked it up, they're right.

[Ben]

Today's modern spelling both in American and British English is earned.
Earnt is not an active word. It might have been in the past, but not anymore.

[marcjacob]

Lots of words have been used in the past that are no longer used words. That's part of the development of language. I would say that earnt is wrong.

[britton]

As long as we're shit-canning words based on our own judgment and not on what scholarly sources say, me and Obama vote to re-spell corpsman.

lol

[marcjacob]

As long as we're shit-canning words based on our own judgment and not on what scholarly sources say, me and Obama vote to re-spell corpsman.

lol

I would use a current dictionary over a wiki site any day. We're not 'canning' worlds. The fact is that this word doesn't appear in a current edition of an English dictionary. Of course if you find an entry in a propper current edition of an English dictionary than you will be correct.

[tim]

I use "earned." It's ironic that dictionaries and grammar texts if not some of our teachers imply that the English language is set in stone and either right or wrong. That's only temporary true if at all. Language is more like a crazy car in an amusement park.

Dictionary.com cites various dictionaries for whatever that's worth, and shows no "earnt" but "learnt" is a word. Go figure. It's not surprising if different trusted dictionaries disagree on the use or existence of a word. Then there's the differences between two valid forms of English (American and English), which I always wanted to learn about. To complicate further, there's something that's not usually taught in school but very real - the rules of style. I don't know much about them except these "rules" make up thick books describing all the acceptable ways to use English that break all the rules we were taught. Again, go figure. There is a rhyme or reason, but the fact is that language changes constantly, right now and through our lifetimes. Webter's, Oxford, or any dictionary has the tough job of ceaselessly scanning what and how words are used in daily life to keep up with these changes. Then there's the creative aspect. What if a word is outdated but you like it, it's your choice anyhow. If enough people use it too, guess what, it's not outdated and is put back in the dictionary.

[britton]

I would use a current dictionary over a wiki site any day. We're not 'canning' worlds. The fact is that this word doesn't appear in a current edition of an English dictionary. Of course if you find an entry in a propper current edition of an English dictionary than you will be correct.

Not sure why you're hung up on the wiki. I already posted a link to the experts explanation at Oxford. It also appears in their dictionary site:

http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/learn?view=uk

and our own dictionary.com

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/learnt

As "chiefly British" which was my argument all along. Not sure why everyone is so set on telling this guy his book is wrong.

Anyway, this will be my last post here as its a silly topic. He can go with you and say that his book is wrong or he can go with me and Oxford and his book and accept the truth that there are two correct British spellings of the word.

[Select]

I, too, it is interesting Earned or earnt?

[RocketJD]

I remember when I first encountered words like earnt, spelt, etc. and I thought they just looked so funny.

Eventually I looked them up and came to the same conclusion as Britton... they are / were used in the UK, but never made it over the pond. :)

[dzinerbear]

The problem with Wikis is that there is little control over what is posted. Yes, they have editors, but Wikis are notoriously full of errors. Anyone can post to a Wiki. Check out the War of 1812 section and American contributors would have us believe that the U.S. won the war when in fact no one was winning and the U.S. and Britain decided just to stop fighting.

I'm sure you'll also find people spelling "lite" and "nite" in Wiki. That doesn't make it right.

The Oxford English Dictionary is an established reference for the English language, and "earnt" is definitely not a word; however, the problem probably stems from the fact that "learnt" is an acceptable past participle of "to learn."

[archer]

interesting discussion.

the use of 't' in place of 'ed' is very old style but is perfectly acceptable.

That being said, I've never ever seen 'earnt' anywhere.

On the other hand I have seen(and use these spellings myself) dreamt(dreamed), spelt(spelled)

Why? Simple. Because they 'sound' right.

On the other hand I'm an old fuddy duddy (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fuddy+duddy) living in Canada. What do I know?