Middle Egyptian IIThe sḏm.n=f

What the sḏm.n=f Means

The sḏm.n=f expresses completed action, usually past: rdj.n=f "he gave", or "he has given".

Not started Jump to practice

You can build any sḏm.n=f now (The sḏm.n=f). Its meaning is more settled than that of the sḏm=f, but not quite the English past tense.

Key idea

The sḏm.n=f expresses completed action. In a narrative it is usually a simple past ("he gave"); in speech it can be an English perfect ("he has given"); after jr "if" it is "if he has done". It is never a future.

Why it works

A completed action is one seen as finished, whenever it happened. In a story about the past, finished actions are past events: "he came, he saw". In a speech, an action just finished is a perfect: "I have come to you". In a condition, the speaker imagines the action finished: "if you have heard". English splits these among three tenses; Egyptian uses one form for all of them.
rdj.n=f t "he gave bread".
SettingExampleTranslation
narrativerdj.n=f t n zhe gave bread to the man
a speechjj.n=j ḫr=kI have come to you
after jr "if"jr sḏm.n=kif you have heard
with rḫ "learn, know"rḫ.n=f rn=jhe knows my name (he has learned it)

Worked example: A past event

Translate sḏm.n=j ḫrw=f.
  1. sḏm.n=j: the sḏm.n=f of sḏm, with =j "I".
  2. ḫrw=f "his voice" is the object.

Answer: "I heard his voice."

Worked example: In a condition

Translate jr jr.n=f mꜣꜥt.
  1. The first jr is the particle "if".
  2. jr.n=f is the sḏm.n=f of jrj "do": completed action.
  3. So the condition is pictured as finished.

Answer: "If he has done what is right."

The verb rḫ shows the idea of completion clearly. Its root means "come to know, learn", so rḫ.n=f "he has learned" amounts to "he knows". Several verbs of knowing and perceiving behave this way; when a past tense makes no sense, try the present state that results from the action.

So when you translate a sḏm.n=f, start with the simple past, then adjust. In a speech where someone reports what they have just done, "I have…" is often better. In a condition, "if… has…". With verbs like rḫ, a present. What you will not need is a future or a wish: those belong to other forms, above all the sḏm=f.

Common mistake

Giving the sḏm.n=f a future meaning after jr "if". English says "if you hear" about the future, so students write "if you will hear" for jr sḏm.n=k. The form still means completed action: "if you have heard". Check: put "have" into your English, then smooth it if the sentence allows.

Practice

Pass with 3 right answers, the last 2 in a row. Each right answer earns 2 XP.

Loading practice…

Builds on

Leads to

Sources and further reading

  • Alan H. Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar (Oxford, 1927), Lesson XXVIII: the sḏm.n.f form
  • James P. Allen, Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs (3rd ed., 2014), on the meaning of the sḏm.n=f
@teddyrookbook GitHub