كان
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Arabic[edit]
Root |
---|
ك و ن (k-w-n) |
Etymology[edit]
From Proto-Semitic *kawan- (“to be or exist in a place”). Compare Ge'ez ኮነ (konä), Akkadian 𒄀𒈾 (kânum).
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
كَانَ • (kāna) I, non-past يَكُونُ (yakūnu)
- (copulative) to be [+accusative]
- (intransitive) to exist, to be, there be
- 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.)
- 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)
- to happen, to occur, to take place
- (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[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 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.
- 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 (ʔaku), 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 |
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 | kuntu |
kunta |
كَانَ kāna |
kuntumā |
kānā |
kunnā |
kuntum |
kānū | |||
f | kunti |
kānat |
kānatā |
kuntunna |
kunna | |||||||
non-past (imperfect) indicative الْمُضَارِع الْمَرْفُوع |
m | ʔakūnu |
takūnu |
yakūnu |
takūnāni |
yakūnāni |
nakūnu |
takūnūna |
yakūnūna | |||
f | takūnīna |
takūnu |
takūnāni |
takunna |
yakunna | |||||||
subjunctive الْمُضَارِع الْمَنْصُوب |
m | ʔakūna |
takūna |
yakūna |
takūnā |
yakūnā |
nakūna |
takūnū |
yakūnū | |||
f | takūnī |
takūna |
takūnā |
takunna |
yakunna | |||||||
jussive الْمُضَارِع الْمَجْزُوم |
m | ʔakun |
takun |
yakun |
takūnā |
yakūnā |
nakun |
takūnū |
yakūnū | |||
f | takūnī |
takun |
takūnā |
takunna |
yakunna | |||||||
imperative الْأَمْر |
m | كُنْ kun |
kūnā |
kūnū |
||||||||
f | kūnī |
kunna |
See also[edit]
- لَيْسَ (laysa)
References[edit]
- 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[edit]
Root |
---|
ك و ن |
4 terms |
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
كان • (kān) (form I, present بكون (bikūn), active participle كاين (kāyen))
- to be
- (auxiliary, by extension) (with subjunctive) continuous and habitual aspect marker
- (auxiliary, by extension) (with past tense) perfect aspect marker
- (auxiliary) (optional; always in the past tense) sets up the main clause in a counterfactual conditional
Usage notes[edit]
- 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[edit]
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) |
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
- Arabic terms with audio links
- 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 auxiliary verbs
- Arabic terms with usage examples
- Arabic verbs lacking passive forms
- South Levantine Arabic terms belonging to the root ك و ن
- South Levantine Arabic terms inherited from Arabic
- South Levantine Arabic terms derived from Arabic
- South Levantine Arabic terms with IPA pronunciation
- South Levantine Arabic terms with audio links
- South Levantine Arabic lemmas
- South Levantine Arabic verbs
- South Levantine Arabic form-I verbs
- South Levantine Arabic terms with usage examples
- South Levantine Arabic auxiliary verbs