Basic Details
Word: Burned
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: The past tense of burn: was on fire, or damaged or hurt by fire or heat. It can also mean felt very hot.
Synonyms: scorched, charred, singed, blazed
Antonyms: went out
How to Spell Burned
Syllables: burned
Tricky part: It is one syllable. Burn already ends in two consonants, so nothing doubles: just add -ed. Burnt is also correct in British English.
Watch out for: burnd, burnned, berned
Memory tip: Burn ends in r and n, two consonants side by side, so the n never doubles: burn + ed.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The candle burned all night in the temple.
Example 2: I burned my finger on the hot tawa.
Example 3: The forest fire burned for three days before the rains came.
Fun Fact
The Great Fire of London burned for about four days in September 1666 and destroyed more than 13,000 houses.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Three words in the list are spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word.
1. inflammable 2. burnned 3. combustion 4. extinguish
a) was on fire, or was hurt by fire or heat
b) easily set on fire
c) the process of burning
d) to put out a fire
Show answer
a) was on fire, or was hurt by fire or heat. Burnned is wrong: the n of burn is never doubled, so the word is burned.
Word Connection
Choose the word opposite in meaning to burned as used in the sentence:
The oil lamp in the window burned until dawn.
a) went out
b) flared
c) glowed
d) blazed
Show answer
a) went out. A lamp that burned kept its flame; one that went out lost it.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Our neighbour forgot the milk on the stove, and it boiled over and burnd the bottom of her favourite steel pan before anyone noticed the smell.
a) favourite
b) noticed
c) burnd
d) neighbour
Show answer
c) burnd. Keep the e in the -ed ending: burned, or the British form burnt.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. In 'Her cheeks burned with embarrassment', burned means her cheeks ____.
a) felt hot
b) froze
c) turned pale
d) caught fire
Show answer
a) felt hot
2. To burn the midnight oil means to ____.
a) cook a meal over an open fire
b) go to sleep very early in the evening
c) work or study late into the night
d) waste fuel without any thought
Show answer
c) work or study late into the night
