In the special Conte truncated expansion approach one obtains different solutions of the Prigogine–Lefever equation by use of various solutions of a type of Riccati equation, including the periodic soliton solutions and singular soliton solutions. In order to acquire conveniently the soliton solutions of the Boussinesq equation, a proper transformation is applied. Using the special Conte truncated expansion approach yields the known bell-shape solutions and some new soliton solutions like cot2 × sec2, tan2 × c sec2, tanh2 × sech2, etc. We also study the soliton solutions of the modified Burgers equation (MBE). Using leading term analysis, we find the exponent is a fraction, i.e., − $$ \frac{1}{2} $$ . Therefore, the special Conte truncated expansion approach cannot be used directly. A transformation is first made to them another form of the MBE. Various soliton solutions of MBE are then presented, including the periodic solutions and singular soliton solutions.