Choose the most suitable word from the given options to complete the following sentence:
As soon as we arrived indoors, we _______ our coats.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → hung
Hang: two past forms:
- hang – hung – hung: for putting things up or letting them hang (coats, pictures, clothes).
- hang – hanged – hanged: only for killing a person by hanging.
- Clue word: "arrived". This sentence: "As soon as we arrived" is in the past, and coats are things, so the simple past hung is needed.
- Complete sentence: As soon as we arrived indoors, we hung our coats.
Example: She hung the painting above the sofa.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: hanged — Incorrect. Hanged is used only for executing a person by hanging, never for coats.
Example: The prisoner was hanged at dawn.
Option 2: hungs — Incorrect. There is no such form in English; a past form never takes -s.
Option 4: hang — Incorrect. Hang is the present form; it does not agree with the past action "arrived".
Example: I hang my keys by the door every evening.
Contrast: coats and pictures are hung; only a person is hanged.