Table of Contents
Both are past tense.
“Hanged” is done as an execution.
“Hung” is for things.
Hanged
The regular past form of “to hang” (“hanged”) is only used in the sense of an execution, either legal or otherwise.
Examples:
- Daniel Frank was the first recorded criminal hanged in the United States. The state of Virginia hanged him on March 1, 1622.
- The first three women so executed were hanged in 1632, 1633, and 1638.
- Between 1926 and 1965, 675 people were hanged in 30 states.
Hung
“Hung” is the irregular past tense for everything else hanging, whether on a wall or from a branch or a necklace.
Examples:
- My grandfather hung the pictures of all his grandchildren on the wall above the TV.
- The robin’s nest hung in the old oak tree through several winter storms.
- That chandelier has hung in the dining room as long as I remember.
The difference is who or what is now suspended in the air. Person = hanged. Non-person = hung.
Credits: I did the drawing, Photo by Caspar Camille Rubin on Unsplash