Everyday English · People & feelings
Hang out
Spend relaxed, informal time with someone or in a place.
You spend relaxed time with people or in a place, often without a special plan. It is an informal expression.
01 · Picture the situation
Understand it in three steps
Imagine this: After class, you and two friends sit in the park, chat and enjoy the afternoon. You are hanging out together.
02 · Hear it in everyday life
Examples you can use
Three natural sentences
- We hang out at the park after class.
- I hung out with my cousins yesterday.
- Would you like to hang out this weekend?
A short conversation
Read the conversation aloud. Then swap roles and try it again without looking.
03 · Build your sentence
How to use hang out
Use hang out with + people and hang out at/in + a place. In this relaxed social meaning, do not put a direct object between hang and out.
The base form is used after can, will and to. The past simple describes a finished past event. The third form follows have or has, for example when connecting an earlier action to now.
A common mistake to avoid
Use hung out for this social meaning. Hanged is not the correct past form here.
Do not confuse it: Meet can describe the moment you come together or a planned appointment. Hang out describes spending casual time together and is usually unsuitable for formal business writing.
Does it have another meaning?
Hang something out can mean put it outside to dry, as with laundry. That is a different pattern from hanging out with friends.
Learn the meaning and sentence pattern together. Small words such as up and off do not have one fixed meaning in every expression.
04 · Make it stick
Try it for yourself
Choose an answer before opening the explanation. Then make a sentence about your own life.
- hand in your friends
- hang out with your friends
- turn off your friends
Check answer 1
B. hang out with your friends
Hang out describes informal time together.
- with
- to
- for
Check answer 2
A. with
Use with before the people you spend time with.
3. Your turn
Where do you like to hang out?
See a possible model and self-check
We hang out at the park after class.
This is one model, not the only correct answer. Check that your sentence uses the meaning taught here, the right verb form and the word order above. Change the person, place or time to make it your own.