كان

See also: کان‎, كأن‎, and گان‎

Arabic

Root
ك و ن‎ (k-w-n)

Etymology

From Proto-Semitic *kawan- (“to be or exist in a place”). Compare Ge'ez ኮነ (konä), Akkadian 𒄀𒈾 (kânum).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaː.na/

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

كَانَ • (kāna) I, non-past يَكُونُ‎‎ (yakūnu)

1. (copulative) to be [+accusative]
2. (intransitive) to exist, to be, there be
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 2:280:

     ‏وَإِنْ كَانَ ذُو عُسْرَةٍ فَنَظِرَةٌ إِلَىٰ مَيْسَرَةٍ‎

     waʔin kāna ḏū ʕusratin fanaẓiratun ʔilā maysaratin

     And if he is in unease, then [let there be] a delay until a time of ease.

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 40:68:

     ‏هُوَ الَّذِي يُحْيِي وَيُمِيتُ فَإِذَا قَضَىٰ أَمْرًا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ‎‎

     huwa allaḏī yuḥyī wayumītu faʔiḏā qaḍā ʔamran faʔinnamā yaqūlu lahu kun fayakūnu

     It is He who causes to live and causes to die. And when He decided a matter, he says to it, "Be", and it is.

   • 1865 CE, Bible (SVD), Book of Genesis, 1:3:

     ‏وَقَالَ اللهُ: «لِيَكُنْ نُورٌ»، فَكَانَ نُورٌ.‎‎

     waqāla llāhu: “liyakun nūrun”, fakāna nūrun.

     And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. (literally, And God says, “Let light be”; and light is.)

3. to behove

   Synonym: يَنْبَغِي‎ (yanbaḡī)

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 24:16:

     ‏وَلَوْلَا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ قُلْتُمْ مَا يَكُونُ لَنَا أَنْ نَتَكَلَّمَ بِهَٰذَا سُبْحَانَكَ هَٰذَا بُهْتَانٌ عَظِيمٌ‎

     walawlā ʔiḏ samiʕtumūhu qultum mā yakūnu lanā ʔan natakallama bihāḏā subḥānaka hāḏā buhtānun ʕaẓīmun

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

4. to happen, to occur, to take place
5. (auxiliary) forms the past perfect, past continuous, future perfect and future continuous tenses

   ‏كَانَ (قَدْ) فَعَلَ‎ ― kāna (qad) faʕala ― He had done.

   ‏كَانَ يَفْعَلُ‎ ― kāna yafʕalu ― He was doing.

   ‏سَيَكُونُ (قَدْ) فَعَلَ‎ ― sayakūnu (qad) faʕala ― He will have done.

   ‏سَيَكُونُ يَفْعَلُ‎ ― sayakūnu yafʕalu ― He will be doing.

Usage notes

• Like all copulative verbs in Arabic, كَانَ‎ (kāna) takes a predicate in the accusative case. This contrasts with old Indo-European languages such as Latin and Greek, in which the predicate of a copulative verb is in the nominative case.

  ‏كَانَ جَمَالٌ عَبْدُ ٱلنَّاصِرِ رَئِيسَ جُمْهُورِيَّةِ مِصْرَ ٱلْعَرَبِيَّةِ.‎‎

  kāna jamālun ʕabdu n-nāṣiri raʔīsa jumhūriyyati miṣra l-ʕarabiyyati.

  Gamal Abdel Nasser was the president of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

• In the present indicative, “to be” is most often expressed by a nominal sentence (جُمْلَة اِسْمِيَّة‎ (jumla ismiyya)) with no verb. In this case, the predicate is in the nominative case.

  ‏عَبْدُ الْفَتَّاحِ ٱلسِّيسِي (هُوَ) رَئِيسُ جُمْهُورِيَّةِ مِصْرَ ٱلْعَرَبِيَّةِ.‎‎

  ʕabdu l-fattāḥi s-sīsī (huwa) raʔīsu jumhūriyyati miṣra l-ʕarabiyyati.

  Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is the president of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

• Imperfect forms of كَانَ‎ (kāna) are not rare, however:
  • They occur after certain conjunctions that must always be followed by a verb:

    ‏أُرِيدُ أَنْ أَكُونَ غَنِيًّا.‎‎ ― ʔurīdu ʔan ʔakūna ḡaniyyan. ― I want to be rich.

  • They are sometimes used instead of a nominal sentence to provide for a clearer sentence structure.
• The jussive forms that end in sukun sometimes drop the final ـن‎ (-n), giving: يَكُ‎ (yaku), تَكُ‎ (taku), أَكُ‎ (ʔaku), نَكُ‎ (naku).

Conjugation

Conjugation of

كَانَ

(form-I hollow, verbal nouns كَوْن or كِيَان or كَيْنُونَة)

verbal nouns الْمَصَادِر						كَوْن‎ or كِيَان‎ or كَيْنُونَة‎ kawn or kiyān or kaynūna
active participle اِسْم الْفَاعِل						كَائِن‎ kāʔin
active voice الْفِعْل الْمَعْلُوم
		singular الْمُفْرَد				dual الْمُثَنَّى			plural الْجَمْع
		1st person الْمُتَكَلِّم	2nd person الْمُخَاطَب	3rd person الْغَائِب		2nd person الْمُخَاطَب	3rd person الْغَائِب		1st person الْمُتَكَلِّم	2nd person الْمُخَاطَب	3rd person الْغَائِب
past (perfect) indicative الْمَاضِي	m	كُنْتُ‎ kuntu	كُنْتَ‎ kunta	كَانَ kāna		كُنْتُمَا‎ kuntumā	كَانَا‎ kānā		كُنَّا‎ kunnā	كُنْتُمْ‎ kuntum	كَانُوا‎ kānū
	f		كُنْتِ‎ kunti	كَانَتْ‎ kānat			كَانَتَا‎ kānatā			كُنْتُنَّ‎ kuntunna	كُنَّ‎ kunna
non-past (imperfect) indicative الْمُضَارِع الْمَرْفُوع	m	أَكُونُ‎ ʔakūnu	تَكُونُ‎ takūnu	يَكُونُ‎ yakūnu		تَكُونَانِ‎ takūnāni	يَكُونَانِ‎ yakūnāni		نَكُونُ‎ nakūnu	تَكُونُونَ‎ takūnūna	يَكُونُونَ‎ yakūnūna
	f		تَكُونِينَ‎ takūnīna	تَكُونُ‎ takūnu			تَكُونَانِ‎ takūnāni			تَكُنَّ‎ takunna	يَكُنَّ‎ yakunna
subjunctive الْمُضَارِع الْمَنْصُوب	m	أَكُونَ‎ ʔakūna	تَكُونَ‎ takūna	يَكُونَ‎ yakūna		تَكُونَا‎ takūnā	يَكُونَا‎ yakūnā		نَكُونَ‎ nakūna	تَكُونُوا‎ takūnū	يَكُونُوا‎ yakūnū
	f		تَكُونِي‎ takūnī	تَكُونَ‎ takūna			تَكُونَا‎ takūnā			تَكُنَّ‎ takunna	يَكُنَّ‎ yakunna
jussive الْمُضَارِع الْمَجْزُوم	m	أَكُنْ‎ ʔakun	تَكُنْ‎ takun	يَكُنْ‎ yakun		تَكُونَا‎ takūnā	يَكُونَا‎ yakūnā		نَكُنْ‎ nakun	تَكُونُوا‎ takūnū	يَكُونُوا‎ yakūnū
	f		تَكُونِي‎ takūnī	تَكُنْ‎ takun			تَكُونَا‎ takūnā			تَكُنَّ‎ takunna	يَكُنَّ‎ yakunna
imperative الْأَمْر	m		كُنْ‎ kun			كُونَا‎ kūnā				كُونُوا‎ kūnū
	f		كُونِي‎ kūnī							كُنَّ‎ kunna

See also

• لَيْسَ‎ (laysa)

 

References

• Wehr, Hans (1979), “كون”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

South Levantine Arabic

Root
ك و ن‎
4 terms

Etymology

From Arabic كَانَ‎ (kāna).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaːn/, [kæːn]

• Audio (al-Lidd)

  (file)

Verb

كان • (kān) (form I, present بكون‎ (bikūn), active participle كاين‎ (kāyen))

1. to be

   Synonym: (rural) بقى‎ (baka)

   ‏الشباب كانو في البيت.‎‎ ― iš-šabāb kānu fi l-bēt ― The guys were in the house.

   ‏وين كاينة؟‎‎ ― wēn kāyne? ― Where have you been?

   ‏لازم تكوني فاهمة على وضعه.‎‎ ― lāzim tkūni fāhme ʕala waḍaʕo ― You should be understanding of his situation.

2. (auxiliary, by extension) (with subjunctive) continuous and habitual aspect marker

   ‏هي رح تكون تحكي مع الدكتور.‎‎ ― hiyye rāḥ tkūn tiḥki maʕ id-doktōr ― She will be speaking to the doctor.

   ‏وانا زغير، كنت اسافر كتير مع اهلي.‎‎ ― w-ana zġīr, kunt asāfer ktīr maʕ ahli ― When I was young, I used to travel a lot with my parents.

3. (auxiliary, by extension) (with past tense) perfect aspect marker

   ‏لمّا جيت، كنت خلّصت.‎‎ ― lamma jīt, kunt ḵallaṣt ― When you came, I had already finished. (literally, “When you came, I was I finished it.”)

   ‏بكرا بتكون خلّصته.‎‎ ― bukra bitkūn ḵallaṣto ― Tomorrow you will have finished it. (literally, “Tomorrow, you will be you finished it.”)

4. (auxiliary) (optional; always in the past tense) sets up the main clause in a counterfactual conditional

   ‏لو سألتني، (كنت) قلتلّك.‎‎ ― law saʔaltni, (kunt) ʔultillak ― If you had asked me, I would have told you.

   ‏لو بتسألني، (كنت) بقلّك.‎‎ ― law btisʔalni, (kunt) baʔullak ― If you were to ask me, I would tell you.

Usage notes

• The copula "to be" is omitted in the present tense, whereas the present form of كان (kān) is used to express the future tense.

Conjugation

Conjugation of كان (kān)
		singular				plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person
past	m	كنت (kunt)	كنت (kunt)	كان (kān)		كننا (kunna)	كنتو (kuntu)	كانو (kānu)
	f		كنتي (kunti)	كانت (kānat)
present	m	بكون (bakūn)	بتكون (bitkūn)	بكون (bikūn)		منكون (minkūn)	بتكونو (bitkūnu)	بيكونو (bikūnu)
	f		بتكوني (bitkūni)	بتكون (bitkūn)
subjunctive	m	اكون (akūn)	تكون (tkūn)	يكون (ykūn)		نكون (nkūn)	تكونو (tkūnu)	يكونو (ykūnu)
	f		تكوني (tkūni)	تكون (tkūn)
imperative	m		كون (kūn)				كونو (kūnu)
	f		كوني (kūni)