The verb يكون ,كانَ. is a Form I hollow verb which conjugates exactly like يَزورُ , زارَ Therefore, the conjugations for this verb for the perfect, imperfect indicative, jussive and subjunctive (once we deal with the subjunctive in a later chapter) should pose no problem for the student who has mastered the conjugation of Form I hollow verbs. Please note that كان, like سكن , has a ن as a final radical. Whenever any verb has a ن as a final radical, that ن is written with a shadda whenever a suffix beginning with a ن is added to the verb. For example سكن conjugated in the perfect for نحن is سكنّا. The ن of the verb is combined with the ن of the suffix. The same thing happens with كانَ. Thus we have كنّا for the first person plural conjugation. So, other than the fact that the last radical of
كانَ is written with a shadda for certain conjugations, this verb should pose no problem for you with respect to its conjugations. The conjugations for this verb will be given at the end of this section.
كانَ works exactly like ليس in that it also takes a direct object. The object of كانَ is always in the accusative.
كانَ is the Arabic verb “to be.” One major function of this verb is to pit an equational sentence into the past tense. For example, أنا طالبٌ “I am a student” becomes كنتُ طالباً “I was a student” with كانَ added with the correct conjugation. طالباً is in the accusative just as it would have been had we used ليس instead of كانَ. (The meaning of such a sentence would be, of course, “I am not a student.”) كانَ used in a sentence will always have its object in the accusative in just the same way ليس does. Whatever would be the object of ليس in an equational sentence if ليس were inserted, will also be the object of كانَ if it were inserted.
The object of كانَ will always be accusative, no matter what tense or mood of كانَ is used in the sentence. Examine the sentences below.
| 1. You were the new student. |
١. كُنتَ الطالبَ الجديدَ. |
| 2. You were not the new student. |
٢. لم تَكُنْ الطالبَ الجديدَ. |
| 3. You will be the new student. |
٣. شَوفَ تكونُ الطالبَ الجديدَ. |
| 4. You want to be the new student. |
٤. تُريدُ انْ تَكونَ الطالبَ الجديدَ. |
As you can see, whenever كان is used in a sentence you must be extra careful in determining the subject and object of the verb, just as with ليس. If you have the ليس business down, you should have no problem with كان.
كان is used to form a number of compound tenses (with horrible names) such as the pluperfect, the future perfect, past future, past habitual and past progressive. Below are some examples.
| 1. I had studied Arabic. |
١. كنتُ درستُ اللغة العربية. |
| 2. Samir had studied Arabic. |
٢. كان سمير (قد) درس اللغة العربية. |
| 3. We were going to go to the Middle East. |
٣. كنّا سنذهب الى الشرق الاوسط. |
| 4. The professors will have killed their lazy students. |
٤. يكون الاستاذة (قد) قتلوا طلابهم الكسالى. |
| 5. Samir used to visit his relatives in Jordan every year. |
٥. كان سمير يزور اقاربه في الاردن كل سنة |
| 6. Samir was sitting on the chair drinking tea when the policeman entered and arrested him and he was taken to jail where he died under mysterious circumstances. |
٦. كان سمير يجلس على الكرسي يشرب الشاي عندما دخل الشرطي واعتقله وأُخذ الى السجن حيث مات تحت ظروف غامضة |
Sentences one and two give examples of the pluperfect. The particle قد can be inserted between the two verbs in the pluperfect, but it is not required. If the subject is included in the sentence, it will appear between the two verbs. This is the case for any of the compound tenses.
Sentence three is an example of the past future. Again, if the subject is written into the sentence it appears between the first verb and the second. Sentence four gives an example of this.
Sentence four is an example of the future perfect. Note that the subject appears in this sentence. The first verb is singular since it comes before the subject, but the second verb is plural because the subject is plural. Again قد is optional here as it is for the pluperfect.
Sentence five is an example of the past habitual. Usually some sort of time indicator will appear in the sentence revealing when something was being done. This will help you distinguish between past habitual and past progressive.
Sentence six is an example of the past progressive. The combination of the perfect of كان plus an imperfect verb is the same as for the past habitual. However, past progressive sentences usually include some other past tense event that happened while the past progressive action was going on. In this case, the policeman entered while poor Samir was sitting down and drinking his tea.
Usually when compound tenses are employed, the context will tell you what is going on. The best way to get used to them is to use them.
Below are charts for كان, يكون in the perfect, present tense, and jussive. Take a look at them and then do the drills on the following pages. You will then have completed the most complex chapter of this book! It is much easier form here on out – but you will still have to work.
Past Tense
| Plural | Dual | Singular | |||
كُنّا |
نَحْنَ |
كُنتُما |
أنتُما |
كُنتُ |
أنا |
كُنتُم |
أنتُم |
كانا |
هما (m) |
كُنتَ |
أنتَ |
كُنتُنَّ |
أنتُنَّ |
كانَتا |
هما (f) |
كُنتِ |
أنتِ |
كانوا |
هم |
كانَ |
هو |
||
كُنَّ |
هنَّ |
كانَت |
هي |
||
Present Tense
| Plural | Dual | Singular | |||
نَكونُ |
نَحْنَ |
تَكونانِ |
أنتُما |
أكونُ |
أنا |
تَكونونَ |
أنتُم |
يَكونانِ |
هما (m) |
تَكونُ |
أنتَ |
تَكُنَّ |
أنتُنَّ |
تَكونانِ |
هما (f) |
تَكونينَ |
أنتِ |
يَكونونَ |
هم |
يَكونَ |
هو |
||
يَكُنَّ |
هنَّ |
تَكونُ |
هي |
||
The Jussive
| Plural | Dual | Singular | |||
نَكُنْ |
نَحْنَ |
تَكونا |
أنتُما |
أكٌنْ |
أنا |
تَكونوا |
أنتُم |
يَكونا |
هما (m) |
تَكُنْ |
أنتَ |
تَكُنَّ |
أنتُنَّ |
تَكونا |
هما (f) |
تَكوني |
أنتِ |
يَكونوا |
هم |
يَكُنْ |
هو |
||
يّكُنَّ |
هنَّ |
تَكُنْ |
هي |
||
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