إن

إن

See also: ان‎, آن‎, أن‎, اَنْ‎, -ان‎, and ان-‎

Arabic

Etymology 1

From Proto-Semitic *šim.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔin/

Conjunction

إِن • (ʔin)

1. (conditional) if (possible, not contrary to fact)

   ‏إِنْ تَدْرُسْ تَنْجَحْ‎ ― ʔin tadrus tanjaḥ ― If you study you (will) succeed.

   ‏إِنْ لَا تَدْرُسْ لَا تَنْجَحْ‎ ― ʔin lā tadrus lā tanjaḥ ― If you do not study you (will) not succeed.

   ‏اَلْمَرْءُ مَقْتُولٌ بِمَا قُتِلَ بِهِ: إِنْ سَيْفًا فَسَيْفٌ، وَإِنْ خِنْجَرًا فِخِنْجَرٌ.‎‎

   al-marʔu maqtūlun bimā qutila bihi: ʔin sayfan fasayfun, waʔin ḵinjaran fiḵinjarun.

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   ‏اَلنَّاسُ مَجْزِيُّونَ بِأَعَمَالِهِمْ، إِنْ خَيْرًا فَخَيْرٌ، وَإنْ شَرًّا فَشَرٌّ.‎‎

   an-nāsu majziyyūna biʔaʕamālihim, ʔin ḵayran faḵayrun, waʔin šarran fašarrun.

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 2:111:

     ‏هَاتُوا بُرْهَانَكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ‎

     hātū burhānakum ʔin kuntum ṣādiqīna

     Give your proof, if you are truthful.

Usage notes

Normally for conditions that are capable of being fulfilled. For contrary-to-fact conditions, use لَوْ‎ (law). Used with the past tense or the jussive, in both cases with a present-tense meaning.

Synonyms

• إِذْمَا‎ (ʔiḏmā)

Derived terms

• إِمَّا‎ (ʔimmā)

Etymology 2

Cognate to Hebrew הִנֵּה‎ (“lo, behold”).[1][2]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔin.na/

Particle

إِنَّ • (ʔinna)

1. indeed, an emphasizing sentence particle, usually untranslated

   ‏إِنِّي فَقِير وَلَا أَجِدُ طَعَامًا أُطْعِمُ أَوْلَادِي وَعَائِلَتِي، فَسَاعِدْنِي.‎‎

   ʔinnī faqīr wa-lā ʔajidu ṭaʕāman ʔuṭʕimu ʔawlādī wa-ʕāʔilatī, fa-sāʕidnī.

   I am poor and can't find food to feed my children and my family, so please help me.

Usage notes

• The subject of a clause containing إِنَّ‎ (ʔinna) takes the accusative case, personal pronouns take enclitic forms.
• When إِنَّ‎ (ʔinna) is followed by the first person singular enclitic ـِي‎ (-ī, “my, me”), it produces forms إِنِّي‎ (ʔinnī) or إِنَّنِي‎ (ʔinnanī). When it is followed by by the first person plural enclitic نَا‎ (nā, “our, us”), it produces forms إِنَّا‎ (ʔinnā) or إِنَّنَا‎ (ʔinnanā).

Inflection

Inflected forms
Base form					إِنَّ (ʔinna)
Personal-pronoun- including forms	Singular		Dual	Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Common	Masculine	Feminine
First person	إِنِّي/ إِنِّيَ/ إِنَّنِي/ إِنَّنِيَ‎ (ʔinnī / ʔinniya / ʔinnanī / ʔinnaniya)			إِنَّنَا/ إِنَّا‎ (ʔinnanā / ʔinnā)
Second person	إِنَّكَ‎ (ʔinnaka)	إِنَّكِ‎ (ʔinnaki)	إِنَّكُمَا‎ (ʔinnakumā)	إِنَّكُمْ‎ (ʔinnakum)	إِنَّكُنَّ‎ (ʔinnakunna)
Third person	إِنَّهُ‎ (ʔinnahu)	إِنَّهَا‎ (ʔinnahā)	إِنَّهُمَا‎ (ʔinnahumā)	إِنَّهُمْ‎ (ʔinnahum)	إِنَّهُنَّ‎ (ʔinnahunna)

Derived terms

• إِنَّمَا‎ (ʔinnamā)

See also

• (ʾinna and her sisters) إِنَّ وَأَخَوَاتُهَا‎ (ʔinna waʔaḵawātuhā); إِنَّ (ʔinna), أَنَّ‎ (ʔanna), لٰكِنَّ‎ (lākinna), كَأَنَّ‎ (kaʔanna), لَعَلَّ‎ (laʕalla), لَيْتَ‎ (layta), ^{(Category: Sisters of ʾinna)}

Etymology 3

Cognate to Hebrew אין‎ (ein).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔin/

Particle

إِنْ • (ʔin)

1. not
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 67:20:

     ‏إِنِ الْكَافِرُونَ إِلَّا فِي غُرُورٍ‎

     ʔini al-kāfirūna ʔillā fī ḡurūrin

     the disbelievers are not but in delusion

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 4:62:

     ‏إِنْ أَرَدْنَا إِلَّا إِحْسَانًا وَتَوْفِيقًا‎

     ʾin ʾaradnā ʾillā ʾiḥsānan wa-tawfīqan

     we intended nothing but good conduct and accommodation

Synonyms

• مَا‎ (mā)

References

1. Lipiński, Edward (2001) Semitic Languages: Outline of a Comparative Grammar (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta; 80) (in English), 2nd edition, Leuven: Peeters, →ISBN, page 482:

   One of the oldest and most important presentatives is *han, attested in Palaeosyrian and in Old Akkadian en-ma, later umma by assimilation. It is found in Ugaritic (hn), in Old Canaanite (a-nu, a-nu-ú, an-nu, an-nu-ú), in Hebrew (hinnē), in Arabic (ʾinna), In Ge'ez (ʾən-ka); e.g. Arabic ʾinna llāha ʾalā kulli šayʾin qadīrun, "behold, God has power over everything". It should be identified with the West Semitic article han-, but carefully distinguished from the conditional particle hn → ʾn.

2. Hetzron, Robert (1997) The Semitic Languages, page 201: The [Arabic] particle ʾinna, etymologically cognate to Hebrew hen, hinne: "behold", emphasizes that the speaker's utterance is true.

• Lane, Edward William (1863), “إن”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate, pages 103 seqq.
• Wehr, Hans (1979), “إن”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN, page 37

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South Levantine Arabic

Etymology 1

From Arabic إن‎ (ʔin).

Conjunction

إن • (ʔin)

1. if (followed by a past tense verb)

   ‏إن جيت بكرة، جيبلي معك جاكيت.‎‎

   ʔin jīt bukra jīb-li maʕak jākēt

   If you come tomorrow, bring me a jacket.

   (literally, “If you come tomorrow, bring for me a jacket with you.”)

   Synonyms: إذا‎ (ʔiza), إنكنّـ‎ (ʔin-kann-)

Usage notes

• إن (ʔin) is always followed by a verb in the past tense, even if refer to an action in the future.

See also

• لو‎ (law, “if (hypothetical)”), لونـ‎ (lawenn-, “if (hypothetical)”)

Etymology 2

From Arabic أَنَّ‎ (ʔanna).

Pronunciation

See إنّه‎ (ʔinno).

Conjunction

إنّـ • (ʔinn-)

1. that (followed by a suffix pronoun)

   Invariable form: إنّه‎ (ʔinno)

Usage notes

• This preposition can be either used invariable in the form إنّه‎ (ʔinno) or with an attached suffix pronoun.
• The suffix pronoun agrees with the subject of the subordinate clause.

Inflection

Inflected forms of إن
Base form					إنّـ (ʔinn-)
Personal-pronoun- including forms		singular		plural
		m	f
1st person		إنّي‎ (ʔinni)		إنّا‎ (ʔinna)
2nd person		إنّك‎ (ʔinnak)	إنّك‎ (ʔinnek)	إنكم‎ (ʔinkom)
3rd person		إنّه‎ (ʔinno)	إنها‎ (ʔinha)	إنهم‎ (ʔinhom)

Derived terms

• لإنّـ‎ (la-ʔinn-, “because”)
• كإنّـ‎ (ka-ʔinn-, “as if”)