كان and Its Sisters

Level 3

In Arabic, 'Kāna and Its Sisters' are verbs like 'was', 'became', and 'is not'. They change the ending of the description (the predicate) in a sentence to the accusative case (-a/-an).

How It Works

The group known as كان وأخواتها (Kana and Its Sisters) consists of 13 'abrogating' (nāsikha) verbs. They are called 'abrogating' because they change the grammatical status of the nominal sentence: the subject is no longer a Mubtada' but becomes the 'Noun of Kana' (Ism Kana), and the predicate becomes the 'Predicate of Kana' (Khabar Kana). They are also described as 'defective' (nāqiṣa) because they require a predicate to complete their meaning.

1. The Grammatical Rule:
When one of these verbs enters a nominal sentence:

  • The Subject remains nominative (marfū‘). While singular nouns use the -u ending, dual nouns use the letter Alif, and sound masculine plurals use the letter Waw.
  • The Predicate changes to the accusative (manṣūb). While singular nouns use the -a ending, duals and sound masculine plurals change their marker to the letter Ya. Note that sound feminine plurals take a Kasra (-i) instead of a Fatha.

2. The 13 Sisters and Their Conditions:

  • كان: Was/Were.
  • أصبح: To become.
  • أضحى: To become (forenoon).
  • ظلّ: To keep on being.
  • أمسى: To become (evening).
  • بات: To become (night).
  • صار: To turn into.
  • ليس: It is not.
  • Verbs of Continuity: ما زال, ما برح, ما انفك, and ما فتئ all mean 'still'. Condition: These four verbs must be preceded by a negation (like ما or لا) to function as sisters of Kana.
  • ما دام: As long as. Condition: It must be preceded by the 'mā of duration' (mā al-maṣdariyya al-ẓarfiyya).

3. Complete Verbs (الأفعال التامة):
Most of these verbs (except ليس, ما فتئ, and ما زال) can also function as 'Complete Verbs'. In this case, they act as standard verbs requiring only a doer (fā‘il) to complete the meaning.

4. Word Order and Predicate Types:
The predicate can precede the subject, especially when the predicate is a semi-sentence. The predicate itself can be a single word, a sentence, or a phrase.

5. Conjugation:

  • Fully Declinable: (كان، أصبح، أضحى، أمسى، ظل، بات، صار) have past, present, and imperative forms.
  • Partially Declinable: The 'still' verbs only have past and present forms.
  • Static: ليس and ما دام only exist in the past tense form.

Examples (6)

  1. كانَ الامتحانُ سَهْلاً.

    The exam was easy.

    Word by Word: Was the exam easy.

    Here, 'al-imtiḥānu' (the exam) is nominative, and 'sahlan' (easy) is accusative because of 'kāna'.

  2. ليسَ الطقسُ بارِداً.

    The weather is not cold.

    Word by Word: Is-not the weather cold.

    'Laysa' negates the sentence and makes the predicate 'bāridan' accusative.

  3. صارَ الولدُ رَجُلاً.

    The boy became a man.

    Word by Word: Became the boy a man.

    'Ṣāra' indicates a transformation; 'rajulan' takes the accusative ending.

  4. ما زالَ الطالبُ نَشيطاً.

    The student is still active.

    Word by Word: Still the student active.

    'Mā zāla' indicates continuity. The predicate 'nashīṭan' must be accusative.

  5. سأدرسُ ما دامَ الوقتُ متاحاً.

    I will study as long as time is available.

    Word by Word: I-will-study as-long-as the-time available.

    'Mā dāma' indicates duration. The 'mā' here is not for negation but creates a time-based clause.

  6. كانَ في البيتِ ضيوفٌ.

    There were guests in the house.

    Word by Word: Was in the house guests.

    In this sentence, the predicate (the phrase 'in the house') comes before the subject ('guests').

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping the predicate in the nominative case.

    كانَ البيتُ كبيرٌ.
    كانَ البيتُ كبيراً.

    Learners often forget to change the predicate to the accusative (-an) ending when using Kāna.

  • Confusing Kāna with Inna.

    كانَ البيتَ كبيرٌ.
    كانَ البيتُ كبيراً.

    Inna makes the subject accusative, but Kāna does the opposite: it makes the predicate accusative.

  • Using the wrong ending for sound masculine plurals.

    كانَ المعلمونَ مخلصونَ.
    كانَ المعلمونَ مخلصينَ.

    For sound masculine plurals, the accusative ending is -īna, not -ūna.

How It Connects

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كان and Its SistersLevel 3

Learn This First

To understand 'كان and Its Sisters', you must first be comfortable with the basic Arabic nominal sentence (Mubtada' and Khabar). You also need to understand the concept of case endings, specifically the nominative (Marfu') and accusative (Mansub) states, as these verbs function by entering a nominal sentence and changing the case of the predicate.

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Words in This Pattern

كان