Page 332 - Practical English Usage 3ed - Michael Swan, Oxford

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learn forms
Learn is often irregular in British English (learn/learnt) and normally regular in American English (learn/learned). For other verbs like this, see 304.3.
For the adjective learned (/,13:mdIJ, see 18. learn (how) to ...
To talk about consciously leaming a method or technique for doing something, we can use learn to ... or learn how to ...
She enjoyed learning (how) to look after young animals.
It's time you learnt (how) to change the oU in the car.
When we talk about less conscious skills and other kinds of knowledge, we generally use learn to ....
Children usually learn to walk at around one year old. In the new job, I soon learnt to keep my mouth shut.
least and fewest
the least as determiner: superlative of little
The least is used as a determiner before uncountable nouns; it is the superlative of little (= not much - see 329), and the opposite of the most.
I think I probably do the least work in this office.
The least can be used without a noun if the meaning is clear.
Jan earns the most money in our family; Pete earns the least.
We use the least ofbefore plural abstract nouns to mean 'the smallest of.
What will your mother think? '" That's the least ofmy worries. 'any...atall'
With singular abstract nouns, the least can mean 'any ... at all'.
Do you think there's the least chance ofSmith winning the election? What's the time? - I haven't got the least idea.
the fewest as determiner: superlative of few
The fewest is used before plural nouns as the superlative of few (see 329). The translation with the fewest mistakes isn't always the best.
Least is often used instead offewest before plural nouns (... the least mistakes), especially in an informal style. Some people feel this is incorrect.
(the) least with adjectives:
the opposite of (the) most or (the) .. .est
(The) least is used before adjectives in the same way as (Ehe) mosE or (the) .. .est (see 137), but with the opposite meaning.
The least expensive holidays are often the most interesting. I'm least happy when [ have to work at weekends.
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For the use of the with superlatives, see 141.
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