Every suffix form so far has been active: "he hears", "he heard". To say "he is heard", Egyptian adds one more small ending.
Key idea
Why it works
| Active | Passive with .tw |
|---|---|
| sḏm=f he hears | sḏm.tw=f he is heard |
| rḫ=s she knows | rḫ.tw=s she is known |
| dj=f ḥtp he gives an offering | rdj.tw ḥtp an offering is given |
| sḏm.n=f he heard | sḏm.n.tw=f he was heard |
Worked example: Make it passive
- Stem rḫ, then .tw.
- The subject is the thing known: rn.
Answer: rḫ.tw rn
Worked example: Translate
- sḥtp "satisfy", .tw the passive.
- nṯr "the god" is the one satisfied.
Answer: "The god is satisfied."
As the last row of the table shows, .tw can also follow the .n of the sḏm.n=f: sḏm.n.tw=f "he was heard", rdj.n.tw n=f "it was given to him". The order is always stem, .n, .tw, subject.
Worked example: A pronoun subject
- rḫ "know", then .tw, then =f "he".
- The passive makes =f the one known.
Answer: "He is known."
The passive often has no doer at all: that is one reason to use it. When the doer is named, Egyptian adds it with jn "by": sḏm.tw mdt jn nsw "the words are heard by the king". In practice, most passive sentences leave the doer out, and English translations often turn them back into actives with "one" or "they": "they say", "one hears".
Common mistake