Lärt

Lärt is the supine or past participle form of the Swedish verb lära, which has two related but distinct core meanings: to teach and to learn. In everyday use, lärt appears mainly in perfect tenses with the auxiliary ha, as in har lärt (has learned or has taught) and har lärt sig (has learned oneself). The simple past tense is usually expressed with lärde (or lärde sig in reflexive constructions). For example: Jag har lärt mig svenska (I have learned Swedish); Hon lärde sig snabbt (She learned quickly).

Etymology and related forms: lära comes from Old Norse læra and is cognate with Danish lære and Norwegian lære. The form lärt is the past participle in Swedish and is used regardless of whether the verb sense is to teach or to learn, depending on the construction. The adjective form lärd (not lärt) exists and means educated or learned, as in en lärd man.

Usage notes: lära is a transitive verb, so it can take a direct object (to teach someone something) or be used reflexively to indicate learning (lära sig något). In many contexts the distinction is clear from the sentence structure: lärande refers to the process of learning, while undervisning refers to teaching. The past participle lärt is common in phrases like har lärt sig mycket, det har lärt mig en läxa (that has taught me a lesson).

See also: lära, lärande, lärd.