Prepositions take objects, and when the object is a pronoun it is a suffix pronoun (Suffix Pronouns). The pattern is the same as with nouns: the suffix goes on the end. One preposition changes its shape.
Key idea
| Preposition | + =f | + =s | + =sn |
|---|---|---|---|
| m in | jm=f in it, in him | jm=s in it, in her | jm=sn in them |
| n to | n=f to him | n=s to her | n=sn to them |
| r toward | r=f toward him | r=s toward her | r=sn toward them |
| ḥr on | ḥr=f on him | ḥr=s on her | ḥr=sn on them |
| ḥnꜥ with | ḥnꜥ=f with him | ḥnꜥ=s with her | ḥnꜥ=sn with them |
| mj like | mj=f like him | mj=s like her | mj=sn like them |
There is no separate word for “it” as the object of a preposition: Egyptian uses the masculine or feminine suffix, depending on the gender of the thing. jm=f can mean “in it” when “it” is a masculine noun like a house, and jm=s when it is a feminine noun like a town.
Why jm?
A word of one consonant, m, cannot carry a suffix comfortably, so it takes a helping j: jm=f, jm=sn. The same longer form appears in the nisbe jmj “who is in” (Nisbe Adjectives) and in the adverb jm “there, therein”, which stands at the end of a clause.
Why it works
Common mistake
Prepositions with suffixes are everywhere in letters and speeches: n=k “to you, for you” in greetings, ḥnꜥ=sn “with them” in accounts of expeditions, r=f “against him” in descriptions of battle. Read the preposition first, then ask who the suffix refers to: the nearest suitable noun of the same gender and number is usually the answer.
Worked example: With me
- ḥnꜥ + the suffix =j.
Answer: ḥnꜥ=j
Worked example: In them
- m becomes jm before a suffix.
- jm + =sn.
Answer: jm=sn
Worked example: Translate
- r “toward” + =k “you” (a man).
Answer: “toward you, to you”