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I have read the following in a forum:

Now that I have it learned pretty well, I’m learning other things

Is "have it learned" correct? I don't even know if that is the causative construction "to have something done" or the usual Present Perfect conjugation ("have learned") in an odd word order.

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  • It's correct to say "I have it learned". President Coolidge once wrote: "I rehearsed my piece again. I have it learned well." Even more common is "I have it memorized".
    – DavePhD
    Oct 29, 2019 at 19:16
  • Worth noting, learned is pretty uncommon in the UK, we use learnt instead (hence the above sounds unnatural) but I believe they mean the same thing. You could also used "learned/learnt it..." (changing the word order).
    – Gamora
    Oct 30, 2019 at 14:56
  • Whether "I have it learned" is technically correct, it's more common to say "I have learned it" or "I've learned it".
    – ProfessorFluffy
    Oct 30, 2019 at 15:10

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It is correct, but a little unusual

In "I have it learned", the word "learned" is a participle phrase (consisting of just one word". Compare this sentence with "I have it in my hand" (referring to a pencil) or "I have it cooked perfectly" (referring to a pie).

The structure of "I have it learned" and "I have it in my hand" are analogous and they communicate in the same way. The italicized part is a predicate asserted about "it". With the participle learned, there is also a suggestion that the speaker did the learning, though this could be overridden by context.

So since "learn" means "store in memory", this means "I have [the script] (stored in my memory)". It is correct, but usually you would want to say "I have learned it" (meaning almost the same but using the present perfect).

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  • I guess there should be a participle in "I have it in my hand" ? Also, chompchomp.com/terms/participlephrase.htm says that participle phrases require at least 2 words.
    – Alan Evangelista
    Nov 1, 2019 at 10:29
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    @AlanEvangelista A lot of grammarians are crazy about terminology. I recommend ignoring fussy details like that and focusing on how we use the words to communicate thoughts. Regardless of the terminology, the structure of "I have it learned" and "I have it in my hand" are analogous and they communicate in the same way. The italicized part is a predicate asserted about "it". With the participle learned, there is also a suggestion that the speaker did the learning, though this could be overridden by context.
    – Ben Kovitz
    Nov 1, 2019 at 10:35
  • "in my hand" is a prepositional phrase and "perfectly" is an adverb. All three types can be used as modifiers. They can all function adverbially. Ben express this very well, so I'm stealing from his comment(!)
    – James K
    Nov 1, 2019 at 18:27

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