LESSON TWENTY : Kaana and Inna

[.: Anna :.]

Lesson twenty : كان وإنّ

We will deal with these in the context of “equational sentences” (see lesson four)
Both of these words can be placed at the start of an equational sentence and then slightly change the following grammar.
We will firstly take إنّ
This word does not really need to be translated, but if you want to you can translate it as “indeed” or “verily”. Its purpose is to add emphasis to a sentence.

This word is always followed by a noun, and will always put the noun into the accusative (ie it makes it carry fatha)

EG:

الْوَلَدُ جَميلٌ
إنّ الْوَلَدَ جميلٌ

If it was followed by a pronoun, then the pronoun changes into its accusative form which is the same as the possessive pronouns... EG

هُوَ فَقيرٌ
إنَّهُ فقيرٌ

As for كان
It could be said to have the opposite effect of Inna.
This word puts the meaning of the equational sentence in the past and can be translated as “was”. It is a verb, and all conjugations of it cause the same grammatical effect. [it is what's known as a Hollow Verb, and that topic will be dealt with later]
The effect of Kaana is that it puts the predicate in the accusative.
EG
الْوَلَدُ جَميلٌ
كانَ الْوَلَدُ جميلاً

This is a quite simple topic and the basic summary to remember is:
Inna : Subject in Accusative, predicate unaffected
Kaana : Subject unaffected, predicate in Accusative

[.: Anna :.]

Exercises :

1.) write 5 of your own equational sentences, each time giving the sentence by itself, then with inna and then with kaana

2.) Translate the following :

كانَ يوسف* جميلاً
كانت عائشة** زوجةَ النبيِّ
كانَ محمدٌ*** رجلاً كريماً

*alayhi salaam
**radhiallahu anhaa
*** salallahu alayhi wa salam
:love:

3.) translate these too :

إنّكِ طالبةٌ مجتهدةٌ يا خديجة!
إنّ هذا الولدَ يلبسُ قميصاً فرنسيّاً
إنّ البنتَ جميلٌ