Earned or earnt?

No

I don't think it is a proper word and seems to be used more and more

Ex MFL teacher about to hang head in shame and check “learned” vs “learnt”. Please ?
I learned this at school
I have learnt that this is a problem
This is a learnt response

Is that all correct?

Earnt is correct, but used mostly in spoken language. It's
more commonly written as earned. It is used like burnt, learnt and so on.
And yes Lucca, it is all correct.

My dictionary gives earned, earnt/ burned, burnt/ learned, learnt as being both correct. It adds that the words ending in the letter 't' are an adjective, taken from, American/English.

From that I assume that was once an adjective has now become a verb simply by everyday use.

You’ve earned it.
Simples.

MiniMoon

Earnt is correct, but used mostly in spoken language. It's
more commonly written as earned. It is used like burnt, learnt and so on.
And yes Lucca, it is all correct.

Thank you!

Well we can have our own preferences on this, but 'earnt' does exist, and even Dickens used it.

'There is conflicting advice on the origin of 'earnt'. Some internet sources state that it is an archaic (out of date/use) form of earned. They will point out that Charles Dickens used it in 1884, yet unlike learnt, dreamt and smelt, 'earnt' does not feature in the OED as a variant. A google search (March 2009) reveals 14,100,000 instances of earnt, but the British National Corpus (1980--1993), which has 100 million words, contains only eight instances of earnt.'

Given that people write loose for lose, it's for its, and other screamers, earnt is a non-issue with me.

Not too long ago I saw ‘earnt’ (used in a context that really grated) on an advertisement encouraging people to apply to our local university. I can’t remember the exact wording, but it certainly struck me as wrong.

Same university - I once picked up a leaflet encouraging applicants for an MA in English literature.
There was a very basic spelling error in the blurb!

Lots of verbs have these double forms and it varies where they are most used.

I tend to use burned / burnt equally, but rarely use learned as the past participle.

I suspect most people do the same although not necessarily with the words I have mentioned.

It doesn't feel right though like 'learnt' I always say earned and learned.

That one grates on me as well Baggs

Also then theres the use of the word 'learn-ed' in courts when they then say "my learn-ed friend" they don't pronounce it 'learned' as all one word do they? But yet its still considered a 'proper' usage there.?

This quote from Dorothy L. Sayers just about sums it up;

The English language has a deceptive air of simplicity; so have some little frocks; but they are both not the kind of thing you can run up in half an hour with a machine.”

Chuckle. I like that, minimoon. ?

Witzend

Not too long ago I saw ‘earnt’ (used in a context that really grated) on an advertisement encouraging people to apply to our local university. I can’t remember the exact wording, but it certainly struck me as wrong.

Same university - I once picked up a leaflet encouraging applicants for an MA in English literature.
There was a very basic spelling error in the blurb!

You don't have to be a good speller to study English literature to postgraduate level.

Literature and the appreciation/analysis thereof isn't all about spelling.

Never absolutely sure about spoilt and spoiled

TerriBull

Never absolutely sure about spoilt and spoiled

Always think ‘spoilt’ refers to indulged children, whereas ‘spoiled’ is if you burn your dinner!

We watch Tipping Point now and again. Ben Shepherd often tells a contestant they’ve just ‘snuck’ into the lead. That grates on me and doesn’t sound correct.

And Calendargirl, I think the opposite....

This is from 'the Grammarist':

In American and Canadian English, spoiled is both a past-tense verb (e.g., it spoiled yesterday) and a past-participial adjective (e.g., the spoiled milk). In varieties of English from outside North America, spoiled is usually the past-tense verb (it spoiled yesterday), and spoilt is usually the past-participial adjective (the spoilt milk). This is not a rule, however, and examples of spoiled used as an adjective outside the North America are easily found in all sorts of writing.

I’ve never heard it or seen it. It may exist, but it isn’t standard English, and I wouldn’t use it.

You don't have to be a good speller to study English literature to postgraduate level.
Literature and the appreciation/analysis thereof isn't all about spelling.

It is pretty poor if you can't (be bothered to) spell correctly at post-graduate level after studying English for all those years.

On a similar vein.......why is the plural of ROOF, ROOFS but the plural of HOOF is HOOVES? Just asking......please don't shoot me.

In France earnt is taught as the past simple for earn. My iPad, although I have downloaded an English dictionary, still insists on American spellings, it doesn’t like earnt nor words finishing ...our eg neighbour and will try to change spellings when I press the send button.