كان

Was and Were

Level 2

Use كان (kāna) to talk about the past. It turns 'The house is big' into 'The house was big.' Crucially, it changes the ending of the adjective or noun that follows it.

How It Works

1. The Grammatical Shift
A standard sentence like al-baytu kabīrun (The house is big) has two parts in the nominative case. When you add كان, it becomes: kāna al-baytu kabīran. The predicate is now 'manṣūb' (accusative). This rule also applies to its 'sisters' like ليس and أصبح.

2. Conjugation and Stem Changes
كان is a hollow verb. While its middle radical is a 'wāw', this manifests as an 'alif' in the 3rd person masculine singular. The long vowel disappears in certain conjugations:

  • 3rd Person: كان (he was), كانت (she was) — The long vowel remains in the singular and dual, but drops in the feminine plural (كُنَّ - kunna).
  • 1st/2nd Person: كُنْتُ (I was), كُنْتَ (you were) — The long vowel shortens to a 'u' sound.

3. Expressing the Past Continuous and Pluperfect
When you combine كان with a present tense verb, it creates the meaning of 'was doing' or 'used to do'. For example, kāna yaktubu means 'he was writing'. To express the pluperfect ('had done'), use كان followed by قد and the past tense, as in kāna qad kataba (he had written).

4. Negation and Word Order
To negate كان, use ما for the past (ما كان - he was not) or لم with the jussive (لم يَكُن - he was not). In Modern Standard Arabic, if the verb comes first, it only agrees with the subject in gender, staying singular even if the subject is plural. If the subject comes first, the verb must match in both gender and number.

Examples (4)

  1. كانَ الجَوُّ جَميلاً.

    The weather was beautiful.

    Word by Word: Was the weather beautiful.

    Notice that 'jamīlan' (beautiful) takes the -an ending because of 'kāna'.

  2. كُنْتُ طالِباً في هَذِهِ الجامِعةِ.

    I was a student at this university.

    Word by Word: I-was a-student in this the-university.

    The verb changes from 'kāna' to 'kuntu' for the first person 'I'.

  3. كانَتِ البِنتُ في المَدرَسةِ.

    The girl was at school.

    Word by Word: Was the-girl in the-school.

    The feminine form 'kānat' is used to agree with 'the girl'.

  4. لَم يَكُنِ الأَكلُ طَيِّباً.

    The food was not good.

    Word by Word: Not was the-food good.

    In formal Arabic, 'lam' + the jussive form 'yakun' is used to negate the past.

Common Mistakes

  • Forgetting to change the predicate to the accusative case.

    كانَ الوَلَدُ صَغيرٌ.
    كانَ الوَلَدُ صَغيرًا.

    The word 'small' (ṣaghīran) must end with the accusative -an because it follows 'kāna'.

  • Keeping the long vowel 'ā' in the first or second person.

    كانْتُ في البَيتِ.
    كُنْتُ في البَيتِ.

    When adding suffixes starting with a consonant (like -tu), the middle 'ā' drops and becomes a short 'u'.

How It Connects

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كانLevel 2Was and Were

Learn This First

To understand 'كان', you first need to be comfortable with basic nominal sentences (Subject and Comment) because 'كان' acts upon them. You also need to understand the 'Mansub' (accusative) case, as 'كان' specifically changes the predicate's ending to this case. Finally, since 'كان' is a verb, familiarity with past tense conjugation is required to use it with different pronouns.

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كان