ظلّ

To Keep on Being

Level 3

ظلّ (ẓalla) is a verb meaning 'to remain' or 'to keep on being.' It functions as a 'Sister of Kana,' meaning it keeps the subject in the nominative case and puts the predicate in the accusative case.

How It Works

The verb ظلّ is a geminate (doubled) verb from the root ظ ل ل. It is used to indicate the persistence of a situation.

1. Grammatical Effect:
Like كان, it enters a nominal sentence. The subject (اسم ظلّ) remains nominative, and the predicate (خبر ظلّ) becomes accusative.
Example: ظلّ الجوُّ صحواً (The weather remained clear).

2. Conjugation Nuance:
Because it is a doubled verb, the final letter splits when attaching to suffixes starting with a consonant (like -tu, -nā, -ta).

  • He remained: ظَلَّ (ẓalla)
  • I remained: ظَلِلْتُ (ẓaliltu)
  • We remained: ظَلِلْنَا (ẓalilnā)

3. Usage with Verbs:
When followed by a present tense verb, it indicates a continuous action: 'He kept on doing...'
Example: ظلّ يدرسُ (He kept on studying).

4. Register:
It is very common in formal writing, news broadcasts, and literature to describe ongoing states or events.

Examples (4)

  1. ظلَّ الطقسُ بارداً طوالَ اليوم.

    The weather stayed cold all day.

    Word by Word: Remained the weather cold throughout the day.

    Here, 'the weather' is the subject (nominative) and 'cold' is the predicate (accusative).

  2. يَظَلُّ الطالبُ يقرأُ حتى المساء.

    The student keeps on reading until evening.

    Word by Word: Remains the student he reads until the evening.

    When followed by a present tense verb, it shows a continuous action.

  3. ظَلِلْتُ واقفاً أمامَ البابِ لساعةٍ.

    I remained standing in front of the door for an hour.

    Word by Word: I remained standing in front of the door for hour.

    Notice the splitting of the doubled 'lām' (ظَلِلْتُ) when the 'I' suffix is added.

  4. سَيَظَلُّ السِرُّ مَكتوماً.

    The secret will remain hidden.

    Word by Word: Will remain the secret hidden.

    The future marker 'sa-' is attached to the present form of the verb.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the nominative case for the predicate.

    ظلّ البابُ مفتوحٌ.
    ظلّ البابُ مفتوحاً.

    As a 'Sister of Kana,' the predicate must be in the accusative case (manṣūb).

  • Failing to split the doubled letter in the past tense conjugation.

    ظَلْتُ في البيتِ.
    ظَلِلْتُ في البيتِ.

    In the past tense, the standard form keeps both lāms before suffixes like -tu (I) or -nā (we): ظَلِلْتُ. A shortened ظِلْتُ or ظَلْتُ appears in some classical texts, but modern writing uses the full form.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

ظلّLevel 3To Keep on Being

Learn This First

To understand ظلّ, you need to be familiar with how nominal sentences (Mubtada and Khabar) work and how the 'sisters of Kana' (كان وأخواتها) change the case of the predicate to the accusative (Mansub).

Words in This Pattern

ظل