إن
Arabic
Etymology 1
From Proto-Semitic *šim.
Pronunciation
Conjunction
إِن • (ʔin)
- (conditional) if (possible, not contrary to fact)
- إِنْ تَدْرُسْ تَنْجَحْ ― ʔin tadrus tanjaḥ ― if you study you (will) succeed
- إِنْ لَا تَدْرُسْ لَا تَنْجَحْ ― ʔin lā tadrus lā tanjaḥ ― if you do not study you (will) not succeed
- إِن أَحْبَبْتَنِي ― ʾin ʾaḥbabta-nī ― if you love me
- إِن تُحْبِبْنِي ― ʾin tuḥbib-nī ― if you love me
- إِن شَاءَ ٱللّٰه ― ʔin šāʔa llāh ― if God/Allah wills
Synonyms
- إِذْمَا (ʔiḏmā)
Usage notes
Normally for conditions that are capable of being fulfilled. For contrary-to-fact conditions, use لَوْ (law). Used with the past tense or the jussive, in both cases with a present-tense meaning.
Etymology 2
Cognate to Hebrew הִנֵּה (“lo, behold”).[1][2]
Pronunciation
Particle
إِنَّ • (ʔinna)
- indeed, an emphasizing sentence particle, usually untranslated
- إِنِّي فَقِير وَلَا أَجِدُ طَعَامًا أُطْعِمُ أَوْلَادِي وَعَائِلَتِي، فَسَاعِدْنِي.
- ʔinnī faqīr walā ʔajidu ṭaʕāman ʔuṭʕimu ʔawlādī waʕāʔilatī, fasāʕidnī.
- I am poor and can't find food to feed my children and my family, so please help me.
Usage notes
- The subject of a clause containing إِنَّ (ʔinna) takes the accusative case, personal pronouns take enclitic forms.
- When إِنَّ (ʔinna) is followed by the first person singular enclitic ـِي (-ī, “my, me”), it produces forms إِنِّي (ʔinnī) or إِنَّنِي (ʔinnanī). When it is followed by by the first person plural enclitic نَا (nā, “our, us”), it produces forms إِنَّا (ʔinnā) or إِنَّنَا (ʔinnanā).
Inflection
Inflected forms | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Base form | إِنَّ (ʾinna) | ||||
Personal-pronoun- including forms |
Singular | Dual | Plural | ||
Masculine | Feminine | Common | Masculine | Feminine | |
First person | إِنِّي / إِنِّيَ / إِنَّنِي / إِنَّنِيَ (ʔinnī / ʔinniya / ʔinnanī / ʔinnaniya) | إِنَّنَا / إِنَّا (ʔinnanā / ʔinnā) | |||
Second person | إِنَّكَ (ʾinnaka) | إِنَّكِ (ʾinnaki) | إِنَّكُمَا (ʾinnakumā) | إِنَّكُمْ (ʾinnakum) | إِنَّكُنَّ (ʾinnakunna) |
Third person | إِنَّهُ (ʾinnahu) | إِنَّهَا (ʾinnahā) | إِنَّهُمَا (ʾinnahumā) | إِنَّهُمْ (ʾinnahum) | إِنَّهُنَّ (ʾinnahunna) |
See also
- (ʾinna and her sisters) إِنَّ وَأَخَوَاتُهَا (ʔinna waʔaḵawātuhā); إِنَّ (ʔinna), أَنَّ (ʔanna), لٰكِنَّ (lākinna), كَأَنَّ (kaʔanna), لِأَنَّ (liʔanna), لٰكِنَّ (lākinna), لَعَلَّ (laʕalla), لَيْتَ (layta), (Category: Sisters of ʾinna)
Etymology 3
Pronunciation
Particle
إِنْ • (ʔin)
- not
-
- إِنِ الْكَافِرُونَ إلاَّ فِي غُرُورٍ
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
-
- إِنْ أَرَدْنَا إِلَّا إِحْسَانًا وَتَوْفِيقًا
- ʔin ʔaradnā ʔillā ʔiḥsānan watawfīqan
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
-
Synonyms
- مَا (mā)
References
- ^ Lipiński, Edward (2001) Semitic Languages: Outline of a Comparative Grammar, page 482: One of the oldest and most important presentatives is *han, attested in Palaeosyrian and in Old Akkadian en-ma, later umma by assimilation. It is found in Ugaritic (hn), in Old Canaanite (a-nu, a-nu-ú, an-nu, an-nu-ú), in Hebrew (hinnē), in Arabic (ʾinna), In Ge'ez (ʾən-ka); e.g. Arabic ʾinna llāha ʾalā kulli šayʾin qadīrun, "behold, God has power over everything". It should be identified with the West Semitic article han-, but carefully distinguished from the conditional particle hn → ʾn.
- ^ Hetzron, Robert (1997) The Semitic Languages, page 201: The [Arabic] particle ʾinna, etymologically cognate to Hebrew hen, hinne: "behold", emphasizes that the speaker's utterance is true.
- Lane, Edward William (1863) “إن”, in Arabic-English Lexicon[1], London: Williams & Norgate, page 103 seqq.
- Wehr, Hans (1979) “إن”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN, page 37
Categories:
- Arabic terms inherited from Proto-Semitic
- Arabic terms derived from Proto-Semitic
- Arabic 1-syllable words
- Arabic terms with IPA pronunciation
- Arabic lemmas
- Arabic conjunctions
- Arabic terms with usage examples
- Arabic 2-syllable words
- Arabic particles
- Sisters of ʾinna
- Arabic terms with quotations
- Arabic negatives