'learn' or 'study'

[Liza]

Hi again,

Is there anyone who could tell me the difference between the usage of 'learn' and 'study'?

e.g.:

I'm learning English. or I'm studying English.

I learnt a lot yesterday afternoon. or I studied a lot yesterday afternoon.

Which are correct?

Thanks a lot in advance.
bye Liza

[Mister Micawber]

.
We study in order to learn. Studying is the process, while learning is the outcome. Hopefully, you are both studying and learning English. You may have studied a lot yesterday afternoon, but you won't know whether you learned a lot until you take the exam.
.
_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mr. Micawber

[Liza]

Dear Mister Micawber,

Thanks so much for your quick reply.

However, could you please add one more thing? If there is no object in the sentence, still I can use 'study' or 'learn'? e.g. What were you doing at 2 yesterday? I was studying / or I was learning.
I feel that maybe the second one is not correct. Maybe is there a rule, that you must use an object with 'learn'?

thank you very much
Liza

[Mister Micawber]

.
It has nothing to do with an object; it is the meaning of the verb-- you can only know that you were studying at 2:00 yesterday; you cannot know whether you learned any of it until you are later put to some sort of test or otherwise accurately reproduce the knowledge you acquired.
.
_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mr. Micawber