كان
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Arabic[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From the root ك و ن (k-w-n), from Proto-Semitic *k-w-n- (“to be or exist in a place”). Compare Ge'ez ኮነ (konä) and Akkadian 𒄀𒈾 (/kânu/, “to be firm in place”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
كَانَ • (kāna) I, non-past يَكُونُ (yakūnu)
- (copulative) to be [+accusative]
- (intransitive) to exist, to be, there be
- 1865 C.E., 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.
- to behove
- Synonym: يَنْبَغِي (yanbaḡī)
- to happen, to occur, to take place
Usage notes[edit]
- 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 ʿabdu n-nāṣiri raʾīsa jumhūriyyati miṣra l-ʿarabiyyati.
- 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.
- ʿabdu l-fattāḥi s-sīsī (huwa) raʾīsu jumhūriyyati miṣra l-ʿarabiyyati.
- 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.
- ʾurīdu ʾan ʾakūna ḡaniyyan.
- I want to be rich.
- They are sometimes used instead of a nominal sentence to provide for a clearer sentence structure.
- They occur after certain conjunctions that must always be followed by a verb:
- The jussive forms that end in sukun sometimes drop the final ـن (-n), giving: يَكُ (yaku), تَكُ (taku), أَكُ (ʾaku), نَكُ (naku).
Conjugation[edit]
Conjugation of
كَانَ
(form-I hollow, verbal nouns كَوْن or كِيَان or كَيْنُونَة)verbal nouns الْمَصَادِر |
kawn or kiyān or kaynūna | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
active participle اِسْم الْفَاعِل |
kāʾin | |||||||||||
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 | kuntu |
kunta |
كَانَ kāna |
kuntumā |
kānā |
kunnā |
kuntum |
kānū | |||
f | kunti |
kānat |
kānatā |
kuntunna |
kunna | |||||||
non-past (imperfect) indicative الْمُضَارِع |
m | ʾakūnu |
takūnu |
yakūnu |
takūnāni |
yakūnāni |
nakūnu |
takūnūna |
yakūnūna | |||
f | takūnīna |
takūnu |
takūnāni |
takunna |
yakunna | |||||||
subjunctive الْمُضَارِع الْمَنْصُوب |
m | ʾakūna |
takūna |
yakūna |
takūnā |
yakūnā |
nakūna |
takūnū |
yakūnū | |||
f | takūnī |
takūna |
takūnā |
takunna |
yakunna | |||||||
jussive الْمُضَارِع الْمَجْزُوم |
m | ʾakun |
takun |
yakun |
takūnā |
yakūnā |
nakun |
takūnū |
yakūnū | |||
f | takūnī |
takun |
takūnā |
takunna |
yakunna | |||||||
imperative الْأَمْر |
m | كُنْ kun |
kūnā |
kūnū |
||||||||
f | kūnī |
kunna |
Related terms[edit]
- اِسْتِكَانَة (istikāna)
- تَكَوَّنَ (takawwana)
- كائِن (kāʾin)
- كِنَان (kinān)
- كَوْن (kawn)
- كَوْنِيّ (kawniyy, “cosmic, universal”)
- مُسْتَكِين (mustakīn)
- مَكَان (makān)
- مَكَانَة (makāna)
- مَكَانِيّ (makāniyy, “local, spatial”)
- مَكَانِيَّة (makāniyya, “spatiality”)
- مُكَوَّن (mukawwan)
See also[edit]
- لَيْسَ (laysa)
References[edit]
- Wehr, Hans, “كون”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic[1], 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, 1979, →ISBN
South Levantine Arabic[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
كان (kān) (form I, present بكون (bikūn), subjunctive يكون (ykūn))
- to be
Conjugation[edit]
Conjugation of كان
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) |
Categories:
- Arabic terms belonging to the root ك و ن
- Arabic terms inherited from Proto-Semitic
- Arabic terms derived from Proto-Semitic
- Arabic 2-syllable words
- Arabic terms with IPA pronunciation
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- Arabic lemmas
- Arabic verbs
- Arabic form-I verbs
- Arabic hollow verbs by conjugation
- Arabic hollow form-I verbs
- Arabic hollow verbs
- Arabic form-I verbs with و as second radical
- Arabic copulative verbs
- Arabic intransitive verbs
- Arabic terms with quotations
- Arabic terms with usage examples
- Arabic verbs with no passive
- Arabic irregular verbs
- South Levantine Arabic terms inherited from Arabic
- South Levantine Arabic terms derived from Arabic
- South Levantine Arabic terms with IPA pronunciation
- South Levantine Arabic lemmas
- South Levantine Arabic verbs
- South Levantine Arabic form-I verbs