With a sḏm=f (The sḏm=f) the subject follows the verb. That one fact fixes the word order of the whole verbal sentence.
Key idea
The word order of a verbal sentence is verb, subject, object, then adverbs and prepositional phrases: dj nsw ḥtp "the king gives an offering"; sḏm nsw ḫrw m pr "the king hears the voice in the house".
Why it works
Because the subject is attached to the verb as a suffix in so many sentences, the verb is naturally first, the subject right behind it. A noun subject takes the same place, and the object follows the subject. Phrases saying where, when and how come last, as in The Adverbial Sentence. One wrinkle: a short dependent pronoun object jumps ahead of a noun subject, ḥz.n wj nsw "the king praised me".
Worked example: Put the words in order
Write "The god knows the name" with rḫ "know", nṯr "god", rn "name".
- Verb first: rḫ.
- Subject next: nṯr.
- Object last: rn.
Answer: rḫ nṯr rn
Worked example: A familiar sentence
In the offering formula, dj=f prt-ḫrw follows the name of a god. Who gives what?
- dj is the verb "give" (a form of rdj).
- =f "he", the god just named, is the subject.
- prt-ḫrw "an invocation offering" is the object.
Answer: The god gives the invocation offering.
Worked example: Where the phrase goes
Translate sḏm z mdt m njwt.
- Verb sḏm "hears", subject z "the man", object mdt "the words".
- m njwt "in the town" comes last.
Answer: "The man hears the words in the town."
Common mistake
Putting the subject first, English style. nsw sḏm ḫrw does not mean "the king hears the voice" as a plain statement, and sḏm ḫrw nsw would make the voice the hearer. Check: the word right after the verb is its subject.
Reading a long sentence becomes much easier once you expect this order. Find the verb at the head, take the next noun or suffix as its subject, the next noun as its object, and leave the prepositional phrases for last. If a sentence seems to make no sense, check whether you have taken the object for the subject.
Some sentences do put a noun first, for emphasis or with particles like jw and mk before the stative (The Stative in Sentences). Those are different constructions, each with its own rule. In a plain sḏm=f sentence, the verb leads.