How to Use Burned or Burnt (Irregular Verb Conjugations)

What’s the past tense of “burn”?

Both burned and burnt are correct past tenses of burn. This refers to a state or event when someone or something is on fire, or to destroy or injure someone or something by heat or fire.

• British English uses burned and burnt both as the past tense and adjective forms.

  	Present	Past	Future
  Simple	I burn	I burned/burnt	I will burn
  Continuous	I am burning	I was burning	I will be burning
  Perfect	I have burned/burnt	I had burned/burnt	I will have burned/burnt
  Perfect Continuous	I have been burning	I had been burning	I will have been burning

  Is “burned”/“burnt” regular or irregular?

  Burned takes the regular verb conjugation with the suffix “ed.” Burnt is the irregular verb form. Generally speaking, the difference in use depends on geography.

  Other irregular verbs like “burn”

  Base Verb	Past Tense	Past Participle
  dream	dreamed/dreamt	dreamed/dreamt
  burn	burned/burnt	burned/burnt
  sleep	slept	slept
  leap	leapt/leaped	leapt/leaped

  Burnt/Burned in sentence examples

  Word Form	Examples
  Present Tense (“burn”)	Fresh leaves will burn slowly with billows of smoke. (future tense) A welcoming fire was burning in the fireplace. (present continuous) Don’t burn your bridges behind you.
  Past Tense (“burned”/”burnt”)	This perfume smells like burnt cotton candy. (adjective) I burned my hand on the stove yesterday. He accidentally burned the cake while baking it.
  Past Participle (“burnt”/”burned”)	The toast was burnt to a crisp. She had burnt her hand on the hot stove while getting dinner prepared. The house had burnt down before the firefighters arrived.
  Adjective Usage (e.g., “burnt toast”)	Nick actually likes the taste of burnt/burned toast. Emile needs a holiday because he is burnt/burned out. All that was left of the farm was the shell of a burnt-/burned-out barn.
  “Get burned/burnt” Phrase Usage	Try not to get burned/burnt by the car salesman! Kyle always insults me. Every time I see him, I get burned/burnt.

  Practice: Burned or Burnt?

  Question 1 of 5

  She accidentally ______ the toast this morning.

  burn
  burned
  burning

  In British English, it is common to say you have ______ the dinner.

  burnt
  burned
  burns

  The house had ______ to the ground before the firefighters arrived.

  burnt
  burning
  burned

  The ______ toast smelled awful.

  burnt
  burned
  burn

  He ______ all of his old letters in the fireplace.

  burnt
  burned
  burning

  
  
  

  FAQs

  Are both burned and burnt correct?
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  Yes, according to the post, both “burned” and “burnt” are accepted as correct past tense and past participle forms of the verb “burn.”
  

  Is ‘burned’ regular or irregular?
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  The post states that “burned” is the regular form because it adds “-ed” to the base verb. “Burnt,” however, is considered the irregular verb form.
  

  Does US/UK English usage differ?
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  Yes, usage depends on geography. British English often uses both “burned” and “burnt” for verbs and adjectives, while US English prefers “burned” for verbs but uses either for adjectives.
  

  Is ‘burnt’ used as an adjective?
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  Yes, according to the post, “burnt” can be used as an adjective. It mentions that British English uses both “burned” and “burnt” as adjectives, and US English uses both as adjectives too.
  

  What common mistake is made with ‘burn’?
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  A common mistake mentioned is using the base form “burn” directly as a past tense verb, like “He burn his finger,” instead of adding “-ed” or “-t” to form “burned” or “burnt.”
  

  Sources

  1. Grammarist.com, burnt/burned.
  2. Etymonline, burn.
  3. High School English and Grammar Composition, P.C. Wren