.tw is the easiest passive to spot (The sḏm.tw=f Passive), but Middle Egyptian has others, and some of them show no ending at all.
Key idea
Why it works
| Kind | Example | Meaning | How to spot it |
|---|---|---|---|
| sḏm.tw=f | sḏm.tw=f | he is heard | the ending .tw |
| passive sḏm=f | rdj n=j t | bread was given to me | the sense: no doer, the thing given as subject |
| stative | jw pr ḫtm.w | the house is sealed | subject first, stative ending |
| passive participle | mrj nb=f | beloved of his lord | it describes a noun, like an adjective |
Worked example: Which passive?
- The subject ḫt nbt comes first.
- The verb jrj carries the stative ending .tj.
Answer: The stative of a transitive verb.
Worked example: No ending at all
- ms is from msj "give birth"; no mother is named as the subject.
- zꜣ "a son" is what is born; n nsw "to the king".
- So it is a passive sḏm=f.
Answer: "A son was born to the king."
A practical order when a sentence seems to have no doer: first look for .tw; then check whether the subject stands before the verb with a stative ending; then whether the verb describes a noun like an adjective. If none of these fits and the sense still calls for a passive, you are probably looking at a passive sḏm=f. Grammars disagree on how many passive forms there are and what to call them; the meanings, though, are clear from context.
Common mistake