Identical Words With Very Different Meanings & Past Tenses
Get the Hang of "Hung" and "Hanged."
Some languages have two distinct words for "hang" (suspend) and "hang" (execute). English uses a single word for both meanings of "hang" but does have two different past tenses for each verb. The past tense of "hang" (suspend) is "hung," and the past tense of "hang" (execute) is hanged. Interestingly, both verbs in the present tense are homonyms (pronounced alike) and homographs (spelled alike).
Example #1:
— Da Vinci's Mona Lisa hangs in the Louvre.
— He hung his paintings in many galleries in the past.
Example #2:
— The executioner hangs prisoners on the gallows.
— The executioner hanged many prisoners last year.
The same distinctions are carried through to the past participles (completed action in the past).
Example #3:
— The gallery owner has hung hundreds of paintings.
Example #4:
— The executioner has hanged hundreds of criminals.
There are many idioms that include "hang" mostly used as metaphors involving being suspended, and both the past tense and past participle of "hang" are "hung."
— Hang your head in shame.
— He hung his head in shame.
— He has hung his head in shame many times
— She hangs out the wash.
— She hung out the wash yesterday.
— She has hung out the wash many times in the past.
— Every day the smoke hangs over the city.
— Yesterday the smoke hung over the city.
— The smoke has hung over the city for the last week.
There are many more metaphors and idioms using "hang" and "hung":hang out; hang on; hang ten; hungover; hung jury; hung out to dry; hang around; hang back; hang loose; hang a left/right; hang in the balance; hang it up; to get hung-up on; hang glide; etc.
And remember: "hang," as in "get the hang of it," is a noun and doesn't have a verb tense. Hope you are getting the hang of "hang" and "hung" and continue hanging in there!
