Hanged vs Hung: When and How To Use Them in Stating Past Events


English Lesson Notes for Junior Secondary

Hanged vs Hung: When and How To Use Them in Stating Past Events

Hanged vs Hung: When and How To Use Them in Stating Past Events
One of the most common pair of confused words relating to irregular verbs is “hanged” and “hung”. The verb “hang” has two possible past tenses and past particles, “hanged” and “hung”. Of these, the form “hung” is by far the more common, as in:

We hung some decorations on the Christmas tree.

The form “hanged” is mostly used when related to execution by hanging someone from a rope or to suicide by the same means, as in:

The murderer was hanged.

This error has become so common that the distinction between the two words is in real danger of being forgotten.

© Joseph Baidoo
Joseph Baidoo is a Ghanaian and is popularly known on social media as Misty Joe.
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