He burned [burnt] the old letters. 他把舊信燒掉了。
The house was burned [burnt] to the ground. 房子被燒成了灰燼。
2. 用於名詞前作定語時,無論在英國英語還是美國英語中,通常都用 burnt。如:
Look at the burnt sugar. 瞧這燒焦了的糖。
He showed me his burnt finger. 他給看了它燒傷的手指。
He had a skin graft on the burnt leg. 他燒傷的腿上做了皮膚移植。
另外,作表語時也通常用burnt。如:
Your hand looks badly burnt. 妳的手好像受了很重的燙傷。
3. 以上區別也適合於以下各組詞:learned / learnt, spoiled / spoilt, smelled / smelt, dreamed / dreamt, spelled / spelt 等。如:
He learned [learnt] the poem at school. 他在學校學過那首詩。
I dreamed [dreamt] about flying last night. 昨晚我夢見我在飛翔。
作定語時通常都用不規則形式。如:
Stop acting like spoilt children! 別再像慣壞的孩子那樣胡鬧了。
Look at these misspelt words. 看看這些拼錯的單詞吧。
The spilt milk made a terrible mess on the carpet. 牛奶灑在地毯上弄得壹塌糊塗。
特例:learned men 學者。