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Merriam-Webster defines hang

transitive verb
a: to fasten to some elevated point without support from below: SUSPEND
b: to suspend by the neck until dead —often hanged in the past

Thus the past tense of "hang" in the execution sense is "hanged" but if this is to happen in the future, is it

He will be hung

Or

He will be hanged

It seems odd that the future tense would have anything to do with past tense. In McMurtry's Streets of Laredo, he uses, going to be hung – this is not dialog but the narrator describing a character's thoughts – the character might not speak grammatically but the narration I think should be grammatical, but perhaps sometimes the omniscient narrator decides to echo the speech patterns of the character because his thoughts would reflect his speech.

Mari-Lou A
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releseabe
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2 Answers2

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Conventionally, it is "He will be hanged."

The etymology of to hang is complex, This is an edited version from OED:

Etymology: The history of this word involves that of two Old English and one Old Norse verb; viz.

(1) the Old English strong hón, heng, hangen, (hǫngen), transitive;

(2) the Old English weak hangian , hangode , -od, (also hǫng-), intransitive […]

In the 13–15th centuries while the south had present tense hang, hong, and past heng, hing, the north had conversely present heng, hing, past hang, hong.

Finally the northern inflection hing, hang was completed by the past participle hung which in the 16th century penetrated into general English.

The weak inflection hanged however continued in use (being the only one used in Bible versions) [and judges pronouncing sentence of death] but was gradually superseded by hung in the general sense, transitive and intransitive, leaving hanged only in the special transitive sense (3) ‘put to death by hanging’, owing probably to the retention of this archaic form by judges in pronouncing capital sentences.

The distinction is found already in Shakespeare, and is established in the expressions ‘I'll be hanged if I do’, and the like.

So basically we have a strong verb and a weak verb. The Bible and Shakespeare went for the weak form to signify a means of death and the strong form for hanging things from other things.

As the Bible and Shakespeare are arguably the greatest influences on the development of Modern English, this is the way things are.

In McMurtry's Streets of Laredo, he uses, Going to be hung

As good as the song is, it is not a reliable authority on the use of English.

Greybeard
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Since this is in the future passive, the past participle form of the word is used.

Prescriptive grammarians will tell you that, when used in this sense, the "correct" past participle form is hanged. However, as Cambridge dictionary notes, both "hanged" and "hung" can be used in this sense. Ngram Viewer shows that both have been around for centuries.

To quote a text from 1792:

But consider the consequences, sir, without witnesses, if one should fall, as you observe, the survivor will be hung for murder.

Or an 1830s warning about the evils of alcohol:

[...] that he will become a pest to the society in which he is now an ornament and a blessing; that he will steal, and rob, and murder; that finally he will be hung [...]

In short: "hanged" is more common, but there is nothing wrong with using "hung" in this way; this usage is well-attested and long-standing, and there is little reason to call it incorrect.

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