KAANA AND ITS SISTERS IN ARABIC |
كان و أخواتها
BY: Yusuf Basirat Bolanle
In our previous lessons, we have discussed the nominal sentence (الجملة الاسمية) in Arabic language. We explained that the nominal sentence is a sentence that begins with a noun or a pronoun. We further discussed that the nominal sentence has two major parts. The first part is the subject while the second one is the predicate. The subjective part is known as(المبتدأ) mubtada and the predicative part is called (الخبر) al-khabar.
However, these two parts of a nominal sentence are always in a nominative case. A nominative case is a state whereby both the subject and the predicate take (الرفع) ar-raf‘ sign which is (الضمة) ad-dammah or ad-damataan, as the case may be.
As a result of this, Kaana and its sisters play important roles in the constructive changes of a nominal sentence. Thus, led to the importance of discussing Kaana and its sisters.
Kaana and its Sisters (كان و أخواتها) is a set of verbs that always works with a nominative sentence. When one of these verbs enter into the nominative sentence (Nominal Sentence) (الجملة الاسمية), The first one becomes its noun and it is called (اسمه), and retains ar-raf‘ sign which is ad-dammah or ad-dammataan, and the second one becomes its predicate, called (خبره) and takes an-nazb sign which is al-fatha.
Let us quickly go through the verbs which are regarded as Kaana and its sisters. The following are regarded as kaana and its sisters: - (كان)Kaana - (صار) Sara - (ليس) Laysa - (أصبح) Asbaha - (أمسى)Amsa - (أضحى) Adha - (ظلَّ) Solla - (بات) Baata
Now, the discussion with Examples
كان
المسجدُ كبيرُ
The Mosque is big
كان المسجدُ كبيرَا
The Mosque was big
...........................................................
الولدُ صغيرُ
The boy is small
كان الولدُ صغيرَا
The boy was small
...........................................................
البِنْتُ نظيفةُ
The girl is neat
كانت البنتُ نظيفةَ
The girl was neat
...........................................................
صار
الجوُّ باردُ
The weather is cold
صار الجوُ باردَا
The weather became cold
...........................................................
الماءُ حارُ
The water is hot
صار الماءُ حارَا
The water became hot
...........................................................
التفاحُ لذيذُ
The apple is sweet
صار التفاحُ لذيذَا
The apple became sweet
...........................................................
ليس
الرجلُ مريضُ
The man is sick
ليس الرجلُ مريضَا
The man was not sick
...........................................................
البنتُ زكيةُ
The girl is smart
ليست البنتُ زكيةَ
The girl was not smart
...........................................................
الولدُ قوىُّ
The boy is strong
ليس الولدُ قويَّا
The boy was not strong
...........................................................
أصبح
المرأةُ جميلةُ
The woman is beautiful
أصبحت المرأةُ جميلةَ
The woman became beautiful
...........................................................
السماءُ ممطرةُ
The sky is raining
أصبحت السماءُ ممطرةَ
The sky became raining
...........................................................
المدرسُ مريضُ
The teacher is sick
أصبح المدرسُ مريضَا
The teacher became sick
...........................................................
أمسى
الخادمُ متعَبُ
The maid is tired
أمسى الخادمُ متعبَا
The maid became tired
...........................................................
الجوُّ حارُ
The weather is hot
أمسى الجوُ حارَا
The weather became hot
...........................................................
التاجرُ مريضُ
The trader is sick
أمسى التاجرُ مريضَا
The trader became sick
...........................................................
أضحى
الدرسُ مُضْحَكُ
The lesson is funny
أضحى الدرسُ مضحكَا
The lesson became funny
...........................................................
الهواءُ باردُ
The weather is cold
أضحى الهواءُ باردَا
The weather became cold
...........................................................
النهرُ جافُ
The river is dried
أضحى النهرُ جافَا
The river became dried
...........................................................
ظلَّ
المطرُ غزيرُ
The rain is heavy
ظلَّ المطرُ غزيرَا
The rain became heavy
...........................................................
الغرفةُ مظلِمةُ
The room is dark
ظل الغرفةُ مظلِمةَ
The room became dark
...........................................................
الشمسُ طالعةُ
The sun is rising
ظل الشمسُ طالعةَ
The sun became rising
...........................................................
بات
الميدانُ جميلُ
The garden is beautiful
بات الميدانُ جميلا
The garden became beautiful
...........................................................
البرتقالُ حُلْوُ
The orange is sweet
بات البرتقالُ حلوَا
The orange became sweet
...........................................................
القمرُ مُنِيرُ
The moon is lighting
بات القمرُ منيرَا
The moon became lighting
...........................................................
Now, let us look at the above examples, we discover that the first set of the sentences are composed from “subjects and predicates” only, and they are both taking ar-raf‘ sign which is ad-dammah, e.g (المسجدُ كبيرُ) However, the second set of the sentences contain one of the kaana and its sisters. Perhaps, changes the parsing mark at the end of the first one which is the subject to ad-dammah, and the parsing mark at the end of the second one which is the predicate to al-fatha in all, e.g (كان المسجدُ كبيرَا)
These set of verb when enters into any nominative sentence, consisting of subject and predicate, it changes the subject parsing mark into ad-dammah and called (اسمه) its noun, then changes the predicate parsing mark to al-fatha and called (خبره) its predicate
Here are the literal and contextual meanings of Kaana and its sisters. - (كان) kaana means to be or be - (ليس) laysa means not - (صار) sara is to turn to or to change or to become - (أصبح) asbaha refers to something that happens in the morning or becomes in the morning (الصبح) - (أمسى) amsa, something that happens in the evening or becomes something in the evening (المساء) - (أضحى) adha is something that happens in the noon or to become something in the noon (الضحى) - (ظلَّ) salla indicates event happening in the day (النهار) - (بات) baata, means something happening in the night or spend night doing something (الليل)
Note: All the above verbs can come in both the present(فعل المضارع ) and command tenses ،(فعل الأمر) except (ليس) laysa, it remains the same and does not have present or command tense.
For instance, we can have:
فعل الماضى فعل المضارع فعل الأمر
.........................................................................
كان يكون كن
أصبح يُصْبِحُ أَصْبِحْ
صار يَصِيرُ صِرْ
أضحى يُضْحِى أَضِحْ
أمسى يُمْسِى أَمْسِ
بات يَبِيتُ بِتْ
ظلَّ يَظَلُّ ظَلَّ
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