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Why does saying learning hard sound so terribly wrong and unnatural, given that working hard, exercising hard, listening hard, thinking hard, and even it rains hard sound perfectly natural and get said all the time?

I know that we can add hard to something when we’re talking about doing something hard to accomplish or doing something with a lot of effort.

Then why can’t I just learn hard?

Sometimes learning something can be very challenging, or I can try to do the act of learning so hard like studying hard and working hard with a lot of effort and energy.

Why shouldn’t “learning hard” be the act of “doing hard”?

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    Because learning is not something you are in control of, whereas studying is.
    – John Lawler
    Commented Jun 25, 2022 at 2:08
  • learning is not something we are in control of?? but, don’t we do the act of learning deliberately? We learn a language, a musical instrument, and skills such as dancing, skiing, and, going even further, we learn science, history, math, etc. some of them definitely require us to at least make an effort so eventually, somehow, it could lead us to the point where we have to learn those things “hard”.
    – 하하호호
    Commented Jun 25, 2022 at 7:05
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    To learn is to acquire knowledge or a skill; we do that by studying a subject or practising an activity. It's true that we say things like "I'm learning French", but what this really means is "I'm studying it". We can say "I'm working hard at learning French", but we can't actually control the amount of knowledge we acquire. Some people pick up knowledge or skills more easily than others.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Jun 25, 2022 at 7:50
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    Something can be hard to learn but you can't [say] "learn hard". You can study hard to learn; or you can practise hard to learn; or you can try hard to learn. Learning is not an action like working, studying, practising, trying, listening etc.; it is more like the result of the action.
    – ermanen
    Commented Jun 25, 2022 at 16:38
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    As @ermanen and John Lawler said. Learning is not an action but the intended result. Just as you can look hard but not see hard; listen hard but not hear hard; search hard but not find hard.
    – Rosie F
    Commented Jun 25, 2022 at 17:02

2 Answers 2

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Merriam-Webster shows the different subsenses of learn relevant here nicely:

learn [transitive verb]: 1a(1): to gain knowledge or understanding of or skill in by

  • (i) study,
  • (ii) instruction, or
  • (iii) experience

[last classification labelling, i/ii/iii, mine].

In spite of M-W's ordering here, I'd say that the default subsense is the 'assimilate knowledge, understanding, wisdom ... often not by design' subsense (ie iii) rather than the 'set oneself to learn by study and practice' (i) subsense. So, with this subsense not highlighting application, design, the intensifier 'hard' makes no sense.

  • Work / try / practise / play / study / think ... hard.

But not the non-applicational

  • *Understand / dream / appreciate / pick up / realise / discover / learn [default sense] ... hard.

So I'd say you're on the right track ... the complication is that 'learn' is very polysemous.

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  • Maybe hard has its own constraints. You can ✅hit hard but not ❌catch hard. You can ✅wish hard but not ❌want hard. You can ✅close a door hard but you can’t ❌open it hard. You can ✅try hard but you can hardly ❌win hard nor ❌succeed hard. You can ✅think hard but you can’t ❌remember hard, ❌realize hard, or ❌know hard. Can you ❓teach hard? You can ✅live hard and maybe ❓die hard, but the first didn’t ❌cause hard the second. You can ✅fly hard and ✅grip hard but ❗falling hard and ❗landing hard are different, just as a hose ✅spraying hard is hardly like mud ❗drying hard. Can the sun ❓shine hard?
    – tchrist ♦
    Commented Jun 25, 2022 at 20:19
  • @tchrist - I'm bedazzled. How did you do that?
    – aparente001
    Commented Jun 25, 2022 at 21:40
  • @aparente001 I found somewhere that had them and then used copy-paste with my mouse.
    – tchrist ♦
    Commented Jun 25, 2022 at 21:48
  • @tchrist - So, would you give inquiring minds the code?
    – aparente001
    Commented Jun 25, 2022 at 21:53
  • @aparente001 Typing perl -CS -le 'print "\x{2705} \x{274C} \x{2753} \x{2757}"' into a system console where perl is installed produces a line containing ✅ ❌ ❓ ❗. So does perl -CS -le 'print "\N{WHITE HEAVY CHECK MARK} \N{CROSS MARK} \N{BLACK QUESTION MARK ORNAMENT} \N{HEAVY EXCLAMATION MARK SYMBOL}"' for that matter, or simply perl -Mutf8 -CSA -E 'say "✅ ❌ ❓ ❗"' itself. I just used my mouse to copy each one at a time into the comment.
    – tchrist ♦
    Commented Jun 25, 2022 at 21:59
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I think the list of words that can take "hard" as some sort of figurative adverb has been in expansion through my lifetime, and I suspect that Madison Avenue (that is, the advertising industry) must have played a big role in that.

I will propose a simple way for you to decide whether hard will fit or not. Think cause and effect. "Studying" is the cause, and "learning" is (hopefully) the effect.

Here's a non-figurative use of hard (as an adverb):

I hit my head hard.

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  • But 'I spent many long hours learning the multiplication tables' (volition, application) whereas *'Yes, I really learned hard'. I think the interplay of the senses of 'learn' is significant.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Jun 26, 2022 at 14:51
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    @EdwinAshworth - Interesting point. Although I won't be around to see it, I suspect that in several generations, "learning hard" may be common parlance.
    – aparente001
    Commented Jun 26, 2022 at 21:08

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