So far most sentences have been single clauses. Real texts chain clauses together, and Egyptian often does it without any word like "when" or "while".
Key idea
A clause placed after a main clause, with no word to introduce it, often describes the circumstances of the main clause. Translate it with "when", "while", "as" or an "-ing" word: gm.n=j sw sḏr.w "I found him lying down"; ḏd.n=f n=j jw=j m pr "he spoke to me while I was in the house".
Why it works
English joins clauses with conjunctions; Egyptian often lets the order speak. A main clause tells what happened (gm.n=j sw "I found him"), and a following clause with a stative, a pseudoverbal phrase, or jw + an adverbial sentence tells the situation at that moment. Gardiner calls these circumstantial clauses. The stative and the jw-clause are the commonest ways to build them, because both describe states.
| Main clause | Circumstantial clause | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| gm.n=j sw | sḏr.w | I found him lying down |
| gm.n=f zꜣt=f | ꜥḥꜥ.tj | he found his daughter standing |
| jj.n=j | ꜥnḫ.kj | I came back alive |
| ḏd.n=f n=j | jw=j m pr | he spoke to me while I was in the house |
| rdj.n=f n=j t | jw=j ḥqr.kj | he gave me bread when I was hungry |
| sḏm.n=j ḫrw=f | jw=f ḥr mdt | I heard his voice as he was speaking |
Worked example: A stative
Translate gm.n=f zꜣt=f ꜥḥꜥ.tj.
- Main clause: gm.n=f zꜣt=f "he found his daughter".
- ꜥḥꜥ.tj is a stative of ꜥḥꜥ "stand", feminine, describing her.
- It tells her situation when he found her.
Answer: "He found his daughter standing."
Worked example: A jw-clause
Translate rdj.n=f n=j t jw=j ḥqr.kj.
- Main clause: "he gave me bread".
- jw=j ḥqr.kj: jw + subject + the stative of ḥqr "be hungry".
- It describes my state at the time.
Answer: "He gave me bread when I was hungry."
Worked example: A pseudoverbal clause
Translate sḏm.n=j ḫrw=f jw=f ḥr mdt.
- "I heard his voice", then jw=f ḥr mdt "he (was) on speaking".
- ḥr + infinitive is "in the act of" (The Pseudoverbal Construction).
Answer: "I heard his voice as he was speaking."
Which English word to use depends on the sense: "while" for something going on, "when" for a moment, "as" for both, "-ing" for a short description, and sometimes "although" or "since". Egyptian leaves that choice to the reader, so translations of the same passage can differ here without either being wrong.
Common mistake
Translating every clause as a separate sentence. "I found him. He lay down." turns one scene into two events and loses the point that he was already lying there. Check: if a clause after a main verb has a stative, a ḥr + infinitive, or jw + an adverbial phrase, try joining it with "while", "when" or "-ing".