Verbs of Nearly Happening

Level 5

أفعال المقاربة (Verbs of Proximity) are used to express that something nearly occurred. The most common are كاد (almost) and أوشك (about to).

How It Works

أفعال المقاربة (Verbs of Proximity) belong to a larger group called كاد وأخواتها, which also includes أفعال الرجاء (Verbs of Hope) and أفعال الشروع (Verbs of Beginning). They are classified as incomplete verbs because they do not take a doer but instead require a subject and a predicate to complete their meaning.

1. The Main Verbs:

  • كاد (Kāda): The most common, meaning 'almost' or 'nearly'. It is often used for things that were on the point of happening but did not.
  • أوشك (Awshaka): Means 'about to' or 'on the verge of'. In Modern Standard Arabic, it is synonymous with كاد regarding the proximity of the event.
  • كرب (Karaba): Also means 'nearly', but it is highly literary and rarely used in Modern Standard Arabic.

2. Sentence Structure and Case:
Like كان, these verbs take a subject in the nominative case. However, the predicate must be a verbal sentence starting with a present tense verb. Crucially, this present tense verb must contain a pronoun (either hidden or explicit) that refers back to the subject. This entire verbal sentence is considered in the place of the accusative.

3. Use of the particle أن (An):
The use of the particle أن before the present tense verb varies:

  • With أوشك, it is highly preferred to use أن (e.g., أوشك الوقت أن ينتهي).
  • With كاد and كرب, it is preferred to omit أن (e.g., كاد المطر يسقط).

4. Conjugation:
كاد and أوشك are partially inflected, meaning they have both past and present forms (يكاد and يوشك). كرب is generally frozen in the past tense.

Examples (4)

  1. كادَ الولدُ يسقطُ.

    The boy almost fell.

    Word by Word: Almost the boy he falls.

    Here, كاد is used without أن, which is the preferred style for this verb.

  2. يوشكُ الوقتُ أن ينتهيَ.

    The time is about to end.

    Word by Word: It is about to the time that it ends.

    With يوشك (the present form of أوشك), the particle أن is typically included, putting the following verb in the subjunctive mood.

  3. كادَت الشمسُ تشرقُ.

    The sun was about to rise.

    Word by Word: Almost the sun she rises.

    The verb كاد agrees in gender with the feminine subject 'the sun'.

  4. أوشكَ المطرُ أن يهطلَ.

    The rain was on the verge of pouring.

    Word by Word: Was about to the rain that it pours.

    أوشك indicates a high degree of proximity to the action starting.

Common Mistakes

  • Using a noun as the predicate instead of a verb.

    كادَ المشروعُ ناجحاً.
    كادَ المشروعُ ينجحُ.

    Unlike Kāna, these verbs require the predicate to be a verbal sentence starting with a present tense verb.

  • Using the particle أن with verbs of beginning (أفعال الشروع).

    بدأَ الطالبُ أن يكتبَ.
    بدأَ الطالبُ يكتبُ.

    While أن is common with أوشك, it is strictly forbidden with verbs of beginning like بدأ (started).

How It Connects

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Verbs of Nearly HappeningLevel 5

Learn This First

To understand أفعال المقاربة (Verbs of Nearly Happening), a learner must first be familiar with the 'Sisters of Kana' because these verbs share the same grammatical structure of affecting a nominal sentence. Additionally, since their predicate must be a verbal sentence starting with a present tense verb (often accompanied by the particle 'an'), the learner needs to understand sentence-based predicates and the subjunctive mood in verbs.

Words in This Pattern

كادأوشككرب