hängen or hängen?
b1One word, two verbs: hängen, hängte, gehängt is the action with the accusative (someone hangs something up), hängen, hing, gehangen the state with the dative (it hangs there). It is the same pair as legen and liegen, only spelled alike in the infinitive.
hängen (schwach)
Weak, with an accusative object, answering wohin. Forms: hängte, hat gehängt.
Ich hänge das Bild an die Wand.I am hanging the picture on the wall.
hängen (stark)
Strong, no object, answering wo. Forms: hing, hat gehangen. In southern Germany and Austria also ist gehangen.
Das Bild hängt an der Wand.The picture is hanging on the wall.
The mistake
Ich habe die Jacke an den Haken gehangen.
Ich habe die Jacke an den Haken gehängt.
Die Jacke is an accusative object, so the action is meant and with it the weak form. Gehangen belongs to the verb that cannot take an object at all.
Rule of thumb
If there is an accusative object, it is the weak set: hängte, gehängt. If there is none, it is hing, gehangen.
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