hang up
BothSense-dependent: some meanings take an object and split, others take none. Check the sense you mean.
How to say it
Stress the particle, not the verb: hang UP. Saying “HANG up” is the clearest learner tell — the verb stays light and the particle carries the beat.
Link across the gap. The final /ŋ/ of “hang” moves onto the particle and starts its syllable: “hang up” is said “ha-ngup”. Pausing between the words is what makes phrasal verbs sound recited rather than spoken.
Verb vs noun
As a noun the stress flips to the front: the verb is hang UP, the noun is HANG-UP. Same two words, different beat — “to hang UP” is the action, “a hang-up” is the thing. Getting this backwards makes the sentence land oddly even when every sound is right.
2 meanings
- 1
To end a telephone call.
- “She hung up before I could explain.”
- “Don't hang up on me.”
Similar: ring off
- 2
To suspend something on a hook or hanger.
- “Hang your coat up in the hall.”
Similar: suspend