كان

See also: کان‎, كأن‎, and گان‎

Arabic

Root
ك و ن‎ (k-w-n)

Etymology

From Proto-Semitic *kawan- (“to be or exist in a place”). Compare Ge'ez ኮነ (konä), Akkadian 𒄀𒈾 (kânum).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /kaː.na/
Audio (file)

Verb

كَانَ • (kāna) I, non-past يَكُونُ‎‎ (yakūnu)

(copulative) to be [+accusative]
(intransitive) to exist, to be, there be
- 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 2:280:
  ‏وَإِنْ كَانَ ذُو عُسْرَةٍ فَنَظِرَةٌ إِلَىٰ مَيْسَرَةٍ‎
  waʾin kāna ḏū ʿusratin fanaẓiratun ʾilā maysaratin
  And if he is in unease, then [let there be] a delay until a time of ease.
- 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 40:68:
  ‏هُوَ الَّذِي يُحْيِي وَيُمِيتُ فَإِذَا قَضَىٰ أَمْرًا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ‎‎
  huwa allaḏī yuḥyī wayumītu faʾiḏā qaḍā ʾamran faʾinnamā 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 ʾiḏ samiʿtumūhu qultum mā yakūnu lanā ʾan natakallama bihāḏā subḥānaka hāḏā buhtānun ʿaẓīmun
  (please add an English translation of this quote)
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) faʿala ― He had done.
‏كَانَ يَفْعَلُ‎ ― kāna yafʿalu ― He was doing.
‏سَيَكُونُ (قَدْ) فَعَلَ‎ ― sayakūnu (qad) faʿala ― He will have done.
‏سَيَكُونُ يَفْعَلُ‎ ― sayakūnu yafʿalu ― He will be doing.

Usage notes

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.
The jussive forms that end in sukun sometimes drop the final ـن‎ (-n), giving: يَكُ‎ (yaku), تَكُ‎ (taku), أَكُ‎ (ʾaku), نَكُ‎ (naku).

Conjugation

Conjugation of

كَانَ

(form-I hollow, verbal nouns كَوْن or كِيَان or كَيْنُونَة)

active voice الْفِعْل الْمَعْلُوم
verbal nouns الْمَصَادِر					كَوْن‎ or كِيَان‎ or كَيْنُونَة‎ kawn or kiyān or kaynūna
active participle اِسْم الْفَاعِل					كَائِن‎ kāʾin
		singular الْمُفْرَد			dual الْمُثَنَّى		plural الْجَمْع
		1^st person الْمُتَكَلِّم	2^nd person الْمُخَاطَب	3^rd person الْغَائِب	2^nd person الْمُخَاطَب	3^rd person الْغَائِب	1^st person الْمُتَكَلِّم	2^nd person الْمُخَاطَب	3^rd person الْغَائِب
past (perfect) indicative الْمَاضِي	m	كُنْتُ‎ kuntu	كُنْتَ‎ kunta	كَانَ kāna	كُنْتُمَا‎ kuntumā	كَانَا‎ kānā	كُنَّا‎ kunnā	كُنْتُمْ‎ kuntum	كَانُوا‎ kānū
past (perfect) indicative الْمَاضِي	f	كُنْتُ‎ kuntu	كُنْتِ‎ kunti	كَانَتْ‎ kānat	كُنْتُمَا‎ kuntumā	كَانَتَا‎ kānatā	كُنَّا‎ kunnā	كُنْتُنَّ‎ kuntunna	كُنَّ‎ kunna
non-past (imperfect) indicative الْمُضَارِع الْمَرْفُوع	m	أَكُونُ‎ ʾakūnu	تَكُونُ‎ takūnu	يَكُونُ‎ yakūnu	تَكُونَانِ‎ takūnāni	يَكُونَانِ‎ yakūnāni	نَكُونُ‎ nakūnu	تَكُونُونَ‎ takūnūna	يَكُونُونَ‎ yakūnūna
non-past (imperfect) indicative الْمُضَارِع الْمَرْفُوع	f	أَكُونُ‎ ʾakūnu	تَكُونِينَ‎ takūnīna	تَكُونُ‎ takūnu	تَكُونَانِ‎ takūnāni	تَكُونَانِ‎ takūnāni	نَكُونُ‎ nakūnu	تَكُنَّ‎ takunna	يَكُنَّ‎ yakunna
subjunctive الْمُضَارِع الْمَنْصُوب	m	أَكُونَ‎ ʾakūna	تَكُونَ‎ takūna	يَكُونَ‎ yakūna	تَكُونَا‎ takūnā	يَكُونَا‎ yakūnā	نَكُونَ‎ nakūna	تَكُونُوا‎ takūnū	يَكُونُوا‎ yakūnū
subjunctive الْمُضَارِع الْمَنْصُوب	f	أَكُونَ‎ ʾakūna	تَكُونِي‎ takūnī	تَكُونَ‎ takūna	تَكُونَا‎ takūnā	تَكُونَا‎ takūnā	نَكُونَ‎ nakūna	تَكُنَّ‎ takunna	يَكُنَّ‎ yakunna
jussive الْمُضَارِع الْمَجْزُوم	m	أَكُنْ‎ ʾakun	تَكُنْ‎ takun	يَكُنْ‎ yakun	تَكُونَا‎ takūnā	يَكُونَا‎ yakūnā	نَكُنْ‎ nakun	تَكُونُوا‎ takūnū	يَكُونُوا‎ yakūnū
jussive الْمُضَارِع الْمَجْزُوم	f	أَكُنْ‎ ʾakun	تَكُونِي‎ takūnī	تَكُنْ‎ takun	تَكُونَا‎ takūnā	تَكُونَا‎ takūnā	نَكُنْ‎ nakun	تَكُنَّ‎ takunna	يَكُنَّ‎ yakunna
imperative الْأَمْر	m		كُنْ‎ kun		كُونَا‎ kūnā			كُونُوا‎ kūnū
imperative الْأَمْر	f		كُونِي‎ kūnī		كُونَا‎ kūnā			كُنَّ‎ kunna

References

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

Root
ك و ن‎

Etymology

From Arabic كَانَ‎ (kāna).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /kaːn/, [kæːn]
Audio (al-Lidd) (file)

Verb

كان • (kān) (form I, present بكون‎ (bikūn), active participle كاين‎ (kāyen))

to be
Synonym: (rural) بقى‎ (baka)
‏الشبابكانو في البيت.‎‎ ― iš-šabāb kānu fi l-bēt ― The guys were in the house.
‏وين كاينة؟‎‎ ― wēn kāyne? ― Where have you been?
‏لازمتكوني فاهمة على وضعه.‎‎ ― lāzim tkūni fāhme ʕala waḍaʕo ― You should be understanding of his situation.
(auxiliary, by extension) (with subjunctive) continuous and habitual aspect marker
‏هي رحتكون تحكي مع الدكتور.‎‎ ― hiyye rāḥ tkūn tiḥki maʕ id-doktōr ― She will be speaking to the doctor.
‏وانا زغير، كنت اسافر كتير مع اهلي.‎‎ ― w-ana zġīr, kunt asāfer ktīr maʕ ahli ― When I was young, I used to travel a lot with my parents.
(auxiliary, by extension) (with past tense) perfect aspect marker
‏لمّا جيت، كنت خلّصت.‎‎ ― lamma jīt, kunt ḵallaṣt ― When you came, I had already finished. (literally, “When you came, I was I finished it.”)
‏بكرابتكون خلّصته.‎‎ ― bukra bitkūn ḵallaṣto ― Tomorrow you will have finished it. (literally, “Tomorrow, you will be you finished it.”)
(auxiliary) (optional; always in the past tense) sets up the main clause in a counterfactual conditional
‏لو سألتني، (كنت) قلتلّك.‎‎ ― law saʔaltni, (kunt) ʔultillak ― If you had asked me, I would have told you.
‏لو بتسألني، (كنت) بقلّك.‎‎ ― law btisʔalni, (kunt) baʔullak ― If you were to ask me, I would tell you.

Usage notes

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

Conjugation of كان (kān)
		singular			plural
		1^st person	2^nd person	3^rd person	1^st person	2^nd person	3^rd person
past	m	كنت (kunt)	كنت (kunt)	كان (kān)	كننا (kunna)	كنتو (kuntu)	كانو (kānu)
past	f	كنت (kunt)	كنتي (kunti)	كانت (kānat)	كننا (kunna)	كنتو (kuntu)	كانو (kānu)
present	m	بكون (bakūn)	بتكون (bitkūn)	بكون (bikūn)	منكون (minkūn)	بتكونو (bitkūnu)	بيكونو (bikūnu)
present	f	بكون (bakūn)	بتكوني (bitkūni)	بتكون (bitkūn)	منكون (minkūn)	بتكونو (bitkūnu)	بيكونو (bikūnu)
subjunctive	m	اكون (akūn)	تكون (tkūn)	يكون (ykūn)	نكون (nkūn)	تكونو (tkūnu)	يكونو (ykūnu)
subjunctive	f	اكون (akūn)	تكوني (tkūni)	تكون (tkūn)	نكون (nkūn)	تكونو (tkūnu)	يكونو (ykūnu)
imperative	m		كون (kūn)			كونو (kūnu)
imperative	f		كوني (kūni)			كونو (kūnu)