Hieroglyphs tutorial; Past and Present tense
The endings of verbs are always;
- "y" for the singular personal verbs ("I")
- "k" for second person singular male verbs (you)
- "T" (tj) for second person singular female verbs (you)
- "f" for third person singular masculine verbs (he)
- "s" for third person singular verbs
- "n" for first person plural verbs (we)
- "Tn" (tjn) for second person plural verbs
- "sn" for third person plural verbs
Present tense
The present tense uses the standard stem of each class of verb (see verbs; part one) with the endings listed above. For example, the present tense of the verb sDm (to hear) is as follows;
 | sDm.y I hear |
 | sDm.k You (masc) hear |
 | sDm.T You (fem) hear |
 | sDm.f He (it) hears |
 | sDm.s She (it) hears |
 | sDm.n We hear |
 | sDm.Tn You hear |
 | sDm.sn They hear |
Past Tense
The past tense is often known as the "sDm.n(=f)" (or "sedjemenef") tense as this is the form used to write the first person singular (ie "he") of the standard strong verb ("sDm" - "to hear"). The "n" is separated from the verb stem by a dot to show that it is the verbal ending and not part of the stem.
The stem of strong, weak and extra weak verbs remains unchanged, but the last consonant of doubling verbs is sometimes omitted.
|
Strong verbs |
|
sDm.n=(f) he heard |
|
Doubled verbs |
|
mA.n=(f) he saw |
|
Weak verbs |
|
mr.n=(f) he loved |
|
Extra weak verbs |
|
rdi.n=(f) he gave, he placed |
The "sDm.n=f" form is often preceded by an auxilliary word such as "iw". This term is not translated as there is no equivalent in English. The term is most often found in recorded speech as it implies an involvement in the events being described.
 | iw auxiliary term |
 | iw Hbs.n=i HAy I clothed the naked |
| Hieroglyphs tutorial; Verbs, part one |
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