hang · hung The difference in meaning and sound
What they mean
Hang is the present tense: you hang a picture or a coat. Hung is its past tense and past participle: "I hung it up yesterday," "It has hung there for years." Only when hang means to execute someone is the past hanged.
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- American woman, younger
- American man, younger
- American man, older
- British woman, younger
- British woman, older
- British man, younger
- British man, older
- Australian woman
- Australian man
What's different
Both words end in ng, and that ending changes the vowel in front of it. Many American voices raise æ before ng, so hang comes out close to "heyng", with a hint of the e in bet. Hung keeps its short, central "uh" all the way into the ng.
British voices don't raise it, so their hang is a plain, open a. Start with the American voices, then try the British ones: the gap is smaller there, but hang is still the longer word.
Studies: Lambacher et al. 2002 · Lambacher et al. 2005 · Nishi & Kewley-Port 2007
æ (hat) is wide and bright. ʌ (hut) is short and relaxed.
More word pairs with these sounds
Hearing hat and hut apart: all 18 pairs →This collection is free in the app
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