The Two Different Uses of the German Verb haengen

The Two Different Uses of the German Verb “haengen”
Post date
May 23, 2018
Post categories
In Accusative & Dative, Differences, Exercises
German Verb "h;ngen"
The German verb h;ngen means the same as “hang” in English. But grammatically it is quite complex because it has two different conjugations depending on its use.

1. Transitive Verb: h;nge/h;ngte/geh;ngt
“Transitive” means the verb can or must have a direct object (Akkusativobjekt) being the thing you hang in/on somewhere. As there is a direct object, you can transform the sentence into passive:

Active: Ich h;nge das Hemd in den Schrank. (I hang the shirt in the closet.)
Passive: Das Hemd wird in den Schrank geh;ngt. (The shirt is hung in the closet.)
After the verb and its direct object (accusative), you must use a complement of place, e.g. with a Two-Way Preposition that also takes accusative. In other words, a thing is moved to a certain place.

Summary: There is always

[A:] someone (the subject) who hangs
[B:] something (the direct object)
[C] in/on/over a place (complement of place).
Examples:

Ich h;nge das Bild an die Wand. (Pr;sens)
Sie h;ngte das Hemd in den Schrank. (Pr;teritum)
Wir haben die Hosen auf Kleiderb;gel geh;ngt. (Perfekt)
If we want to use h;ngen without a complement of place, we need the prefixed verb aufh;ngen: Sie h;ngen Bilder auf. (They hang [up] pictures.)

The expression sich reinh;ngen means “to throw oneself into it” (in this case, the reflexive pronoun is the accusative object): Sie hat sich da total/voll/richtig reingeh;ngt. (She threw herself completely into it.)

With all these uses, h;ngen is completely regular:

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10
 entries
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Person Pr;sens Pr;teritum Perfekt
ich h;nge (... auf) h;ngte (... auf) habe ... (auf)geh;ngt
du h;ngst (... auf) h;ngtest (... auf) hast ... (auf)geh;ngt
er/sie/es h;ngt (... auf) h;ngte (... auf) hat ... (auf)geh;ngt
wir h;ngen (... auf) h;ngten (... auf) haben ... (auf)geh;ngt
ihr h;ngt (... auf) h;ngtet (... auf) habt ... (auf)geh;ngt
sie/Sie h;ngen (... auf) h;ngten (... auf) haben ... (auf)geh;ngt
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2. Intransitive Verb: h;nge/hing/gehangen
“Intransitive” means the verb can never take a direct object and thus, it is not possible to form a passive sentence.

This verb expresses that something (or someone) hangs/is hanging somewhere.

So, there is no one doing anything, there is just

[A:] a thing (the direct object from above is now the subject) hanging
[B] in/on/over/from a place (Two-Way Preposition with dative case). Consequently, it is static, there is no movement.
Examples:

Das Bild h;ngt an der Wand. (Pr;sens)
Das Hemd hing im Schrank. (Pr;teritum)
Die Hosen haben auf Kleiderb;geln gehangen. (Perfekt)
The expression an jemandem h;ngen means “to cling to somebody/something”: Er hat (sehr) an seinem Hund gehangen. (He clung to his dog.)

The verb rumh;ngen means “hang around/out” in English: Er hat mit seinen Freunden rumgehangen. (He was hanging around/out with his friends)

With these uses, h;ngen is irregular in simple past and perfect tense (present tense is regular: see above):

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10
 entries
Search:
Person Pr;teritum Perfekt
ich hing habe ... gehangen
du hingst hast ... gehangen
er/sie/es hing hat ... gehangen
wir hingen haben ... gehangen
ihr hingt habt ... gehangen
sie/Sie hingen haben ... gehangen
Showing 1 to 6 of 6 entriesPreviousNext
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