Not everyone knows how to spell “hang” or “weigh”. In this regard, we decided to devote this article to this topic.
General information
Does it weigh or hang? To correctly answer the question, you should know more than one rule of the Russian language. After all, both words can be written as presented in this case. However, to put the letter “and” or “e”, you must carefully read the sentence or phrase in which the given word is.
Does it weigh or hang?
In order to understand how this word is written, it is necessary to give examples in which it is used:
- "How much does sugar weigh?"
- "What is the picture hanging on?"
As you can see, both expressions can be used in both forms. That is why, for starters, you need to delve into the context, and after that draw certain conclusions.
Noun
What is the difference between the words presented and in which particular phrases can they be used?
In the first example (“How much does sugar weigh?”) This verb comes from the noun “weight”. In other words, it must be used in sentences where an appropriate value is required.
Weight is a certain force with which a body acts on a horizontal support or suspension, which prevents it from falling freely, and obeys gravity.
So, here are a few examples where this word is used in the meaning we need:
- “Sugar weighs exactly one kilogram.”
- "It is necessary to weigh a person and write the received data in a journal."
- “I’m going to weigh myself, because I feel that I’m getting fat.”
- "This computer game weighs more than five gigabytes."
- “Please give me three apples, but first weigh them” and so on.
Features of the words "weighs" and "hangs"
But how is it right: “weighs” or “hangs”? If this word implies the weight of something or someone, then the first option is required. However, most often the question regarding correct spelling arises in the second case. Indeed, it is in this word that the vowel is fundamentally in an unstressed position. Accordingly, writing is in doubt almost every person.
Verb
Does it weigh or hang? As mentioned above, despite the fact that the words presented are identical in sound, they are completely different not only in meaning, but also in spelling.
Thus, in the example “What is the picture hanging on?” the above expression is formed not from the noun, as in the previous version, but from the verb "hang". That is why this word should be checked using a simple rule of the Russian language, which we will consider further.
Rule spelling unstressed vowels in the root of the verbs
How to: "hangs" or "weighs"? As we found out above, these two words have every right to exist, but they are used in completely different contexts. And if the verb “weighs” is formed on behalf of the noun “weight”, then the word “hangs” (in the present tense) arose from the indefinite form of the verb “hang”. In other words, this expression literally means the following: to be above the floor or the ground, that is, to be held from above or from the side and at the same time have no support from below. Here are a few relevant examples, thanks to which it will become more clear in which cases the presented verb can be used:
- “On both sides of the window are 2 large paintings.”
- "A rope hangs on a tree that sways from the wind."
- "A pear hangs, but it must not be eaten."
- "On the wall hangs a picture of a famous artist, which is literally mesmerizing."
- "He's been hanging on the horizontal bar for several minutes."
- “A ripe and probably very tasty and sweet apple hangs on a branch” and so on.
It should be specially noted that if in the previous word "weighs" the stress falls directly on the letter "e", which, in fact, dispels all doubts about its spelling, then in the verb "hangs" the second syllable is stressed. That is why when using it in the text, almost everyone has a question about what letter should be put in the first syllable. To answer it, it is necessary to apply the simplest rule of the Russian language, which has already been mentioned above.
So, if you doubt which letter you need to write in unstressed root, then you need to choose the right test word. At the same time, it should be as close as possible to the tested one and have a similar root (alternation is allowed). For the expression “hanging”, the verb “hang” will be the test. As you can see, in the indicated word the emphasis falls directly on the dubious letter “and”. Accordingly, the spelling will be correct: a picture hangs, a pear hangs, an apple hangs, and so on.
To summarize
There is nothing complicated in checking certain words and determining the correct letter for their spelling. However, this requires clarification if the given expression has any other meaning that directly affects its spelling.