1. 在美国英语中，动词 burn 为规则动词，其过去式和过去分词均为 burned；在英国英语中，动词 burn可以是规则的也可以是不规则的（即可用 burned和burnt）。所以当不考虑英国英语与美国英语的差别时，两者形式常可互换。如：
The cigarette burned [burnt] a hole in the carpet.
香烟把地毯烧了个洞。
Ten people burned [burnt]to death in the hotel fire.
旅馆火灾中有十人被烧死。
He burned [burnt] the old letters. 他把旧信烧掉了。
The house was burned [burnt] to the ground. 房子被烧成了灰烬。
Houses and a luxury tourist hotel were burned[burnt] to the ground.
多栋房屋和一家豪华旅馆被大火焚烧殆尽。
A complete tenement block was burned [burnt] to the ground.
整幢公寓大楼被付之一炬。
2. 用于名词前作定语时，无论在英国英语还是美国英语中，通常都用 不规则变化的burnt。如：
Look at the burnt sugar. 瞧这烧焦了的糖。
He showed me his burnt finger. 他给看了它烧伤的手指。
He had a skin graft on the burnt leg. 他烧伤的腿上做了皮肤移植。
另外，作表语时也通常用burnt。如：
Your hand looks badly burnt. 你的手好像受了很重的烫伤。
3. 以上区别也适合于以下各组词：learned / learnt, spoiled / spoilt, smelled / smelt, dreamed / dreamt, spelled / spelt 等。如：
He learned [learnt] the poem at school. 他在学校学过那首诗。
I dreamed [dreamt] about flying last night. 昨晚我梦见我在飞翔。
作定语时通常都用不规则形式。如：
Stop acting like spoilt children! 别再像惯坏的孩子那样胡闹了。
Look at these misspelt words. 看看这些拼错的单词吧。
The spilt milk made a terrible mess on the carpet. 牛奶洒在地毯上弄得一塌糊涂。
特例：learned men 学者； learned scholar文坛领袖
Learned men would argue with him.
学者要跟他争论。
Learned men are not necessarily wise.
博学者未必都是聪明的。
Most learned men are modest.
大部分有学问的人都很谦虚。
He is a learned doctor.
他是一个医术高明的医生。
经典拓展burn短语归纳
1. burn away 烧掉，烧毁。如：
The pile of paper burned away to nothing. 这堆已化为灰烬。
Half the candle had burnt away.
那根蜡烛烧掉了一半。
The clothing on his back got burnt away in the fire.
他的衣服后背在大火中烧掉了。
Half the candle had burnt away.
那根蜡烛烧掉了一半。
2. burn down 烧掉，烧毁。火势减弱；如：
A number of houses were burned down in the fire. 在火灾中烧掉了不少房子。
The house burned down in 1895.
那房子在1895年烧毁了。
Notre Dame DE Paris burned down in 2019.
巴黎圣母院在2019年烧毁了。
The car was burning down the road.
汽车沿着公路疾驰而去。
3. burn off 烧毁，烧尽。消耗；如：
The farmers are burning off the stubble from the fields. 农民正把地里的庄稼茬烧掉。
The bushfire actually helped to burn off a lot of dead undergrowth.
林区大火实际上有助于清除很多枯死的矮灌木。
This will improve your performance and help you burn off calories.
这将会改善你的表现，并帮你消耗卡路里。
4. burn out 烧完，烧掉，烧坏。（使因过热或使用过多）出故障；耗尽体力；积劳成疾；累垮如：
The fire had burnt (itself) out before the fire engines arrived.
救火车到达之前火就熄灭了。
The hotel was completely burnt out.
旅馆被烧得只剩一片废墟。
the burnt-out wreck of a car
汽车烧毁后的残骸
The building was burned out and only the walls remained. 大楼被烧空了，只剩下墙。
The engine is [has] burned out. 引擎被烧坏了。
The clutch has burnt out.
离合器因过热而失灵了。
If he doesn't stop working so hard, he'll burn himself out.
他要是继续这样拼命工作，就会把自己累垮。
By the age of 25 she was completely burned out and retired from the sport.
她到25岁时就已体力耗尽，退出了体坛。
5. burn up
(1) 烧完，烧尽。消耗；如：
Let's burn up all this waste paper.
咱们把这些废纸烧掉吧。
They burnt up all the garden rubbish.
他们将花园中的垃圾全部烧掉了。
The spacecraft burned up as it entered the earth's atmosphere.
宇宙飞船进入地球大气层时被烧毁。
The satellite re-entered the atmosphere and burned up.
卫星重新进入大气层，烧成灰烬。
The station would burn up on re-entry into the earth's atmosphere.
空间站在重返地球大气层时会被烧毁。
The plane circled the airport to burn up excess fuel.
飞机在机场上空盘旋以耗掉多余的燃料。
Fires have burned up 180,000 acres of timber.
大火烧光了18万英亩的木材。
The fire burned up more than 50000 pounds worth of antiques.
这次大火烧毁了价值50000英镑的古物。
As we get older, our bodies become less efficient at burning up calories.
随着一天天衰老，我们的身体消耗热量的功能逐渐减弱。
Brisk walking burns up more calories than slow jogging.
快走比慢跑能消耗更多的热量。
Aerobic exercise gets the heart pumping and helps you to burn up the fat.
有氧运动加速心脏跳动，有助于消耗更多脂肪。
We burned up all the dead leaves in the garden. 我们把花园里所有的枯叶都烧掉了。
The oil in the lamp had burned up.
灯里油已经烧尽了。
(2) 烧得很旺。如：
As we gazed, the fire burned up again. 我们正看着时，火又重新燃烧起来。
（3）激怒；使大怒
The way he treats me really burns me up.
他这样对待我真使我恼火。
The boy's rudeness burned up his teacher.
那个男孩的无理行为使老师大发雷霆。
5. burn your bridges
不留退路；破釜沉舟；背水而战;义无反顾
to do sth that makes it impossible to return to the previous situation later.
Think carefully before you resign─you don't want to burn your bridges.
辞职前要三思——你得给自己留条退路。
I decided to burn my bridges and sell the company.
我决定破釜沉舟，把公司卖掉。
I will be willing to burn my bridges if what I do helps change the present situation.
假如我所做的事情能有助于改变现在的状况，我将义无返顾。
6. burn the midnight oil
挑灯夜战；熬夜
Chris is asleep after burning the midnight oil trying to finish his article.
克里斯为了写完文章挑灯夜战，现在已经睡着了。
Exam time was near, and more and more pupils were burning the midnight oil.
考试将近，越来越多的学生都在开夜车。
He was burning the midnight oil studying for his exam.
他为了准备考试学习到很晚。
She had to burn the midnight oil getting the report done on time.
为了按时完成那份报告，她不得不工作到深夜。
Busy people can often be found burning the midnight oil.
大忙人总是日以继夜地工作。
7. burn a hole in your pocket
一有（钱）就想花；花钱没有节制
Money does burn a hole in his pocket.
他花钱如流水。
Money burns a hole in my pocket. 我花钱如流水。
Money burns a hole in your pocket.你花钱如流水。
I think the cost of the wedding will burn a hole in my pocket.
我想婚礼会是一大笔开销。
Monthly living cost in this big city can burn a hole in your pocket.
这个城市每月生活费用支出就足以让你的口袋见底。
While you hold a cell phone in your hand, money seems to be burning a hole in your pocket.
手机在手，花钱就没有用节制。
Let's go out and have some fun, I've got some money that is burning a hole in my pocket. 我们这就出去玩玩。我包里有点钱，不花不痛快。
Sally can’t seem to save anything, money burns a hole in her pocket. 莎莉好像是个存不住钱的主儿，她有点钱不花就特难受。
8. have money to burn
钱多得花不完；有用不完的钱
When Sarah comes into her inheritance, she will have money to burn.