You can recognize the stative by its endings (Stative Endings). What it means depends on the kind of verb.
Key idea
Why it works
| Verb | Kind | Stative | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| jj "come" | intransitive | jw=f jj.w | he has come, he is here |
| sḏr "lie down" | intransitive | jw=f sḏr.w | he is lying down |
| ꜥḥꜥ "stand" | intransitive | jw=j ꜥḥꜥ.kj | I am standing |
| ḫtm "seal" | transitive | jw pr ḫtm.w | the house is sealed |
| jrj "do" | transitive | jw ḫt nbt jr.tj | everything is done |
| sḏm "hear" | transitive | jw mdt sḏm.tj | the words are heard |
Worked example: Intransitive
- jj "come" takes no object, so its stative is the state reached.
- mk wj "look, I"; jj.kj "have come".
Answer: "Look, I have come" (here I am).
Worked example: Transitive
- jrj "do" takes an object, so its stative is passive.
- ḫt nbt "everything" is feminine, so the ending is .tj.
Answer: "Everything is done."
A few verbs break the pattern. The most common is rḫ "know": its stative rḫ.kj means "I know", not "I am known", because knowing is a state the knower is in. Treat such verbs as exceptions to learn; the dictionary usually notes them.
Verbs of motion are the clearest intransitive cases. jj "come", šm "go", prj "go out" and ꜥq "enter" all have statives that say where someone now is: arrived, gone, out, inside. English often needs "is" or "has" for them: "he is gone", "she has arrived".
Common mistake