"-t and -ed. A number of irregular verbs have competing past forms and past participles in -t and -ed (e.g. 'leapt' and 'leaped'); the most common of these are given in the table below. In some cases the length of the vowel is shortened in the '-t' forms (e.g. lept instead of leept for 'leapt'). It is difficult to establish distinctions based on region or meaning, but two tendencies are discernible: (1) the form in '-ed' is more often preferred in AmE, and (2) in BrE there is a stronger preference for the '-t' form when it is used as a participial adjective, as in 'The cakes are burnt' as distinct from 'We burned the cakes' "'earnt' is not standard, but is increasingly found" ("-t" Pocket Fowler's Modern English Usage. Ed. Robert Allen. Oxford University Press, 1999. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Oxford University. 29 May 2006 <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t30.e3738>)
Elsewhere Fowler's give the example:
A Google search reveals just how common the "earnt" form is; labelling it a misspelling misrepresents its current status. --129.67.116.7 22:17, 29 May 2006 (UTC) (Mel Etitis, Wikipedia
Submitted by : "Earnt" is perfectly correct. I know that American English (which is an oxymoron anyway) has trouble understanding irregular verbs, but they help preserve the etymology of the words. "Earnt", a reward for work - from the Germanic "Ernte", to harvest. Whilst the weak past participal of this verb has taken a dominant position in the English language (earned) it is actually less "correct" than the irregular conjugation.
I am a Brit and I always use earnt and 'T' endings wherever possible.
I find it is a more elegant way of speaking:
"he learned maths"
"he learnt maths" - "learnt" every time !
"lighted" - no thanks - "lit" please. "dreamed" - no thanks - "dreamt" please.
Perhaps I prefer it because a lot of the older Germanic words in English have irregular 't' endings (well I think they are Germanic - someone else will have to check). think/thought bite/bit bring/brought burn/burnt catch/caught fight/fought
I did not know there is a difference between American English and British English on this point. Is this really the case or are we inventing differences?
For me, I use the 't' ending because it is more elegant. — This unsigned comment was added by HughAbbott (talk • contribs) at 16:05, 28 December 2009.
'Earnt' is correct and has been in common use throughout the Commonwealth of Nations for as long as I can remember.
Usage Example 1: 'his work has earnt him a minor degree of celebrity' - Tim Hume, Saturday 21 January 2012, The Independent http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/his-dear-leader-meet-north-koreas-secret-weapon--an-it-consultant-from-spain-6291303.html
Usage Example 2: 'You've earnt it.' - Don Gilet in '55 Degrees North', written by Timothy Prager for BBC Scotland
Usage Example 3: 'The salesman earnt a total income of Rs 21,400 in that month' - Saraswathi Iyer, 'Perfect Practice Series General Mathematics Part II Std.X'
Usage Example 4: 'J.K. Rowling was reported by The Times to have earnt some £280 million' - Andrew Milner, 'Literature, Culture and Society'
Usage Example 5: 'amount earnt from this work' - Australian governmental forms, such as this one: http://www.humanservices.gov.au/spw/customer/forms/resources/su496-1409en.pdf
Usage Example 6: 'It was paid for by taxpayers, many of whom earnt a lot less than those students will earn after they've graduated.'; Usage Example 7: 'people who earnt a lot less than we earn paid for us to go to university' - The Right Honourable David Willetts, Minister of State for Universities and Science, on 10 O'Clock Live, Series 1, Episode 1, 2011: https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/10-o-clock-live/id416532485?mt=2 at the 30-minute mark and the 31-minute mark
Usage Example 8: 'I think we've earnt our yummy Coronation Chicken.' - Rachel Khoo in 'Rachel Khoo's Kitchen Notebook' (Television Programme), Episode: Coronation Chicken
Aurigin (talk) 15:13, 8 September 2015 (UTC)
Usage Example 9: 'I'd made a discovery that had earnt me a few days of minor celebrity' - Tony Martin in 'A Nest of Occasionals' (Page 12) http://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9781405040297
Aurigin (talk) 09:37, 22 September 2015 (UTC)
Usage Example 10: 'Well done, squirrels! You've earnt your Raindance Badge.' -- Hey Duggee, Episode 23: 'The Raindance Badge', BBC, approximately 6 minutes in