Is it burned or burnt?

There are some issues that come in discussion.  One, only slightly less popular than when and where to use I/me, is the issue of when and where to use say "burnt" or "burned" or "sleeped" or "slept."  Okay, the second one is easy.  Any English speaker knows that "sleeped" just isn't right.  It sounds wrong; you know in your gut exactly what to do. 

Robert Allen notes in How to Write Better English that two things of extreme importance.  First, you must follow the same format every time.  So, if you write "wept" instead of "weeped", you should always do the same thing throughout the work you're writing.  He also notes that when the word is used as an adjective before a noun, the "t" form is generally preferred.  So, we say "burnt cakes" and "spilt milk".  Again, it important to realize that these forms just sound better.

Here is a list Allen provides that could bear some looking over:

burn                        burned                            burnt
dream                     dreamed                         dreamt
dwell                      dwelled                          dwelt
lean                        leaned                            leant
leap                        leaped                            leapt
learn                       learned                          learnt
smell                      smelled                          smelt
spell                       spelled                           spelt
spoil                       spoiled                           spoilt

These choice of which verb form to take is different say between the UK and Canada.  Normally, in Canada you would say:
I dreamed I returned to Manderley last night.
I spelled the last word incorrectly in the spelling-bell and thus, did not get the prize.

KB