formality - learn how to [verb] vs. learn to [verb]



  1. "learn to [verb]"

  2. "learn how to [verb]"


Is [1] merely a less formal version of [2]? If not, does [1] communicate something subtly different? Consider the following:


In [2], the object of learning is explicitly "how to [verb]" (for instance, "I will learn how to speak French").


Is the object of learning in [1] "to [verb]" or is it something implicit and abstract that allows the subject "to [verb]"? For instance, in "I will learn to speak French", the object of learning would be the prerequisite elements for speaking French: "French phonemes, grammar, syntax, etc.".




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