Use hanged only when someone is put to death by hanging. Use hung for everything else: pictures, coats, a jury that cannot decide, a frozen computer. Memory hook: people are hanged, things are hung.
The core difference
Hanged is the past form used only for execution by hanging, while hung is the ordinary past form for anything suspended, stuck or undecided.
- hanged — put to death by hanging: He was hanged at dawn for his crimes.
- hung — suspended from above: The paintings were hung at eye level along the corridor.
- hung — undecided or frozen: The trial ended with a hung jury. My laptop hung again.
How to tell them apart
Ask yourself one question: is this an execution? If so, use hanged. If it is anything else, hung is the word. A handy hook is that hanged and hung both come from hang, but only the grim, specific meaning gets the special form.
The mix-up usually shows up in writing about pictures, washing and clothes, where people reach for hanged because it looks more formal. It is not needed there: She hung the coat on the hook is correct. In phrases like hung jury and hung parliament, only hung is used.
