ان

See also: ـان, اَن, آن, أن, إن, اَِنْ, -ان, and ان-

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Conjunction

ان (ən)

1. one
2. Arabic spelling of en, alternative form of اَِنْ

Arabic

Etymology

Cognate to Hebrew ־ן

Suffix

ـَان • (-ān)

1. Suffix used in forming intensive adjectives of the pattern فَعْلَان (faʕlān), e.g. تَعْبَان (taʕbān, “tired”), عَطْشَان (ʕaṭšān, “thirsty”), غَضْبَان (ḡaḍbān, “angry”), زَعْلَان (zaʕlān, “annoyed”), كَسْلَان (kaslān, “lazy”), نَعْسَان (naʕsān, “drowsy”). These adjectives generally have a feminine in َـى (-ā), e.g. عَطْشَى (ʕaṭšā), كَسْلَى (kaslā), نَعْسَى (naʕsā).

Interfix

َـانـ • (-ān-)

1. Interfix used in forming nisba (relative) adjectives, inserted between the base noun and the ending ـِيّ (-iyy), e.g. أَنَانِيّ (ʔanāniyy, “selfish”), based on أَنَا (ʔanā) or عَالَمَانِيّ (ʕālamāniyy, “worldly, secular”), based on عَالَم (ʕālam, “world”).

Derived terms

Arabic terms interfixed with ان

أناني

إسكندراني

براني

بندقاني

تحتاني

جسماني

حلواني

رباني

روحاني

سرياني

شهواني

صنعاني

صيدلاني

علماني

فوقاني

كلداني

لاذقاني

نصراني

نوراني

وحداني

وحدانية

اني

Suffix

ـَانِ • (-āni) (oblique ـَيْنِ (-ayni), construct ـَا (-ā), oblique construct ـَيْ (-ay))

1. Suffix added to a noun or adjective to form the dual form.

   ‎مُعَلِّم (muʕallim, “teacher”) + ‎ـَانِ (-āni) → ‎مُعَلِّمَانِ (muʕallimāni, “two teachers”)

See also

• ـُونَ (-ūna, sound masculine pluralizing suffix)
• ـَات (-āt, sound feminine pluralizing suffix)

Burushaski

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [un]

Pronoun

اُن (un)

1. you; second-person singular pronoun

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [in]

Pronoun

اِن (in)

1. he, she; third-person singular pronoun

References

• Bechtholdt, Astrid (2025), “un”, in Burushaski Hunza Dictionary (Webonary), Dallas, Texas, USA: SIL International, published 2017.
• Bechtholdt, Astrid (2025), “in”, in Burushaski Hunza Dictionary (Webonary), Dallas, Texas, USA: SIL International, published 2017.

Hijazi Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic ـَان (-ān).

Suffix

ـان • (-ān)

1. Suffix used in forming intensive adjectives of the pattern فَعْلَان (faʕlān).

Usage notes

• Intensive adjectives often act as active participles of stative verbs, usually having the pattern فِعِل (fiʕil), for instance:

  زِعِل (ziʕil, “to get sad”) → زعلان (zaʕlān, “sad”)

See also

Category:Hijazi Arabic intensive adjectives

Kalami

Etymology

Etymology tree

Sanskrit आण्ड (āṇḍa)

Kalami ان

Inherited from Sanskrit आण्ड (āṇḍa).

Noun

ان (an) m

1. egg

References

• Baart, Joan L. G. (1997), “an”, in The sounds and tones of Kalam Kohistani: with wordlist and texts (Studies in Languages of Northern Pakistan; 1)‎^[1], National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University; Summer Institute of Linguistics, page 77

North Levantine Arabic

Etymology

Clipping of إن (ʔin, “if”), from Arabic إن (ʔin, “if”).

Conjunction

ٱنـ • (n-)

1. if

   Synonyms: إذا (ʔiza), انكنـ (nkann-) (regional), كنـ (kann-, kinn-) (regional)

   • 1961, Said Akl [Akl’s orthography: Saɥid ɥaçl], “Mecwar (Arabic: مشوار, ‘A trip’)”, in Ya̵ra: ceɥr [yāra: šiʕr, Arabic: يارا: شعر, Yara: poetry], 1st edition, page 21:

     N ṣaxx el xelem cu ṣār?
     W mecwar jina ɥa d deni… mecwar…

     [انصحّ الحلم شو صار؟
     ومشوار جينا عالدني... مشوار…]

     n ṣaḥḥ l-ḥilm šū ṣār?
     w mišwār jīna ʕa d-dini… mišwār…

     And so what if a dream came true?
     And we came to this world on a trip… just a trip…

Usage notes

• Only used with perfective verbs. Falling out of general use compared to إذا (ʔiza), but remains typical in some situations, such as:
  1. In constructions meaning "whether or not"
  2. With the word كان (kān, “to be”), as in انكان (nkān, “if it is”).

Derived terms

• انكترت (nkattarit, “at most”)
• انكنـ (nkann-, “if”)

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Turkic *-gan, which is comparable to Proto-Mongolic *-gan and Proto-Tungusic *-kan.

Suffix

ان • (-an)

1. adjective-forming suffix that, added to the root of a verb, creates non-past participles

   ‎بورـ (bur-, “to twist, wring”) + ‎ان → ‎بوران (buran, “twisting, wringing, that twists or wrings”)

Derived terms

Ottoman Turkish terms suffixed with ـان

بوران

بوزان

بوغان

دوزن

قاقان

قاپان

قاچان

قوغان

قیران

Descendants

• Turkish: -an

Further reading

• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007), “-an1”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 1, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 238

Persian

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ˈʔan/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔän]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔän]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʔän]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʔän]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔæn]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔän]

Readings
Classical reading?	an
Dari reading?	an
Iranian reading?	an
Tajik reading?	an

Noun

ان • (an)

1. (vulgar) Alternative spelling of عن.

Etymology 2

English en.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /en/

Noun

ان • (en)

1. Transliteration of the name of the Latin-script letter n in English and other European languages.

Derived terms

• دی‌ان‌ای (di-en-ey)

South Levantine Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic ـَان (-ān).

Suffix

ـان • (-ān)

1. Suffix used in forming intensive adjectives of the pattern فَعْلَان (faʕlān).

Usage notes

• Intensive adjectives often act as active participles of stative verbs, usually having the pattern فِعِل (fiʕil), for instance:

  عطش (ʕiṭiš, “to be thirsty”) → عطشان (ʕaṭšān, “thirsty”)

  حزن (ḥizin, “to get sad”) → حزنان (ḥaznān, “sad”)

See also

Category:South Levantine Arabic intensive adjectives

Urdu

Etymology 1

Inherited from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀅𑀡- (aṇa-), from Sanskrit अन्- (an-), from Proto-Indo-European *n̥- (“not, un-”).

Alternative forms

• اـ (before consonants)

Prefix

اَنـ • (an-) (Hindi spelling अन-)

1. A negating prefix. non-, un-, a-, an-, etc.

   ‎ان + ‎کَہا (kahā, “said”) → ‎اَنْکَہا (ankahā, “unsaid, unspoken”)

Usage notes

This form is used before words that begin with vowels.

Derived terms

Category Urdu terms prefixed with ان not found

Etymology 2

Pronoun

اِن • (in) m pl or f pl (Hindi spelling इन)

1. (proximal) third-person plural objective personal pronoun: them
2. (oblique case) these; plural of اِس (is)
3. (formal, proximal) third-person singular objective personal pronoun: him, (oblique case) her
4. (formal, oblique case) this

Pronoun

اُن • (un) m pl or f pl (Hindi spelling उन)

1. (distal) third-person plural objective personal pronoun: them
2. (oblique case) those; plural of اُس (us)
3. (formal, distal) third-person singular objective personal pronoun: him, (oblique case) her
4. (formal, oblique case) that

Determiner

اِن • (in) pl (Hindi spelling इन)

1. (oblique case) these; plural of اِس (is)
2. (formal, oblique case) this

Determiner

اُن • (un) pl (Hindi spelling उन)

1. (oblique case) those; plural of اُس (us)
2. (formal, oblique case) that

See also

Urdu personal pronouns

			direct case	indirect case	ergative case	dative/accusative case
1st person	singular		مَیں (ma͠i)	مُجھ (mujh)	مَیں نے (ma͠i ne)	مُجھ کو (mujh ko) مُجھے (mujhe)
	formal (rare)		خَاکْسَار (xāksār)		خَاکْسَار نے (xāksār ne)	خَاکْسَار کو (xāksār ko)
	plural		ہَم (ham)		ہَم نے (ham ne)	ہَم کو (ham ko) ہَمیں (hamẽ)
2nd person	informal (intimate)		تُو (tū)	تُجھ (tujh)	تُو نے (tū ne)	تُجھ کو (tujh ko) تُجھے (tujhe)
	semiformal (familiar)		تُم (tum)		تُم نے (tum ne)	تُم کو (tum ko) تُمْہیں (tumhẽ)
	formal (polite)		آپ (āp)		آپ نے (āp ne)	آپ کو (āp ko)
3rd person	proximal	singular / informal	یِہ (ye)	اِس (is)	اِس نے (is ne)	اِس کو (is ko) اِسے (ise)
		plural / formal		اِن (in)	اِنْہوں نے (inhõ ne)	اِن کو (in ko) اِنْہیں (inhẽ)
	distal	singular / informal	وُہ (vo)	اُس (us)	اُس نے (us ne)	اُس کو (us ko) اُسے (use)
		plural / formal		اُن (un)	اُنْہوں نے (unhõ ne)	اُن کو (un ko) اُنْہیں (unhẽ)