“The outlaw was hung at dawn.”
For a person put to death by hanging, English keeps the older past form: HANGED.
Confusables Entry 19 / 1011 60-second read
Hanged vs. Hung
The past tense reserved for executions versus the one for everything else.
The comparisoni
“The outlaw was hanged at dawn.”
Paintings are hung; prisoners are hanged. One of the few distinctions English really does insist on.
More examplesii
01
The painting was hanged above the fireplace.
The painting was hung above the fireplace.
Paintings, coats, laundry — anything non-human — is HUNG.
02
The conspirators were hung in the town square.
The conspirators were hanged in the town square.
For execution by the neck, English still uses HANGED.
The ruleiii
¶
People are HANGED. Everything else is HUNG.
Use HANGED only for an execution (or a suicide) by the neck. In every other sense — paintings, laundry, hopes — the past tense is HUNG.
Notesiv
Register
One of the last truly enforced irregulars in English usage. Well-edited copy keeps it; casual writing often blurs it.
Watch for
The distinction is about cause of death, not period setting. A modern suicide by hanging takes HANGED; a historical photo on a wall takes HUNG.
Memory aidv
Remember it like this
Clint Eastwood’s 1968 western ‘Hang ’Em High’ uses the verb in present tense, but the whole plot turns on a man who was hanged and lived. The film’s title is exactly the distinction.
In the wildvi
Real-world-style usage — how this looks in a sentence people would actually write.
- The portrait had hung in the gallery for decades before anyone noticed the artist’s brother had been hanged for forgery.
- Laundry hung on the line; the accused was hanged at dawn. Two different verbs, two different worlds.
Test yourselfvii
Which is right?