FromProto-Semitic *kawan- ( “ to be or exist in a place ” ) .
كَانَ • (kāna )I non-past يَكُونُ ( yakūnu ) ,verbal noun كَوْن ( kawn ) or كِيَان ( kiyān ) or كَيْنُونَة ( kaynūna ) )
( copulative ) be [with accusative ( auxiliary ) forms thepast perfect ,past continuous ,future perfect andfuture continuous tenses كَانَ (قَدْ) فَعَلَkāna (qad) faʕalaHe had done. كَانَ يَفْعَلُkāna yafʕaluHe was doing. كَانَ سَ يَفْعَلُkāna sa yafʕaluHe was going to do. كَانَ ليَفْعَلَHe would have done. سَيَكُونُ (قَدْ) فَعَلَsayakūnu (qad) faʕalaHe will have done. سَيَكُونُ يَفْعَلُsayakūnu yafʕaluHe will be doing. ( intransitive ) exist , tobe ,there be 609–632CE ,Qur'an 2:280 وَإِنْكَانَ ذُو عُسْرَةٍ فَنَظِرَةٌ إِلَىٰ مَيْسَرَةٍ waʔinkāna ḏū ʕusratin fanaẓiratun ʔilā maysaratin And if heis in unease, then [let there be] a delay until a time of ease. 609–632CE ,Qur'an 40:68 هُوَ الَّذِي يُحْيِي وَيُمِيتُ فَإِذَا قَضَىٰ أَمْرًا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُكُنْ فَيَكُونُ huwa llaḏī yuḥyī wayumītu faʔiḏā qaḍā ʔamran faʔinnamā yaqūlu lahukun fayakūnu It is He who causes to live and causes to die. And when He decided a matter, he says to it, "Be ", and itis . 1865CE ,Bible (SVD) Book of Genesis, 1:3 :وَقَالَ اللهُ: «لِيَكُنْ نُورٌ»، فَكَانَ نُورٌ. waqāla llāhu: “liyakun nūrun”, fakāna nūrun. And God said, Letthere be light: andthere was light. (literally , And God said, “Let lightbe ”; and lightis .) tobehove Synonym: يَنْبَغِي ( yanbaḡī ) 609–632CE ,Qur'an 24:16 وَلَوْلَا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ قُلْتُمْ مَايَكُونُ لَنَا أَنْ نَتَكَلَّمَ بِهَٰذَا سُبْحَانَكَ هَٰذَا بُهْتَانٌ عَظِيمٌ walawlā ʔiḏ samiʕtumūhu qultum māyakūnu lanā ʔan natakallama bihāḏā subḥānaka hāḏā buhtānun ʕaẓīmun (pleaseadd an English translation of this quotation) tohappen , tooccur , totake place 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 ٱلنَّاصِرِرَئِيسَ جُمْهُورِيَّةِ مِصْرَ ٱلْعَرَبِيَّةِ.kāna jamālun ʕabdu n-nāṣiriraʔīsa jumhūriyyati miṣra l-ʕarabiyyati.Gamal Abdel Nasserwas the president of the Arab Republic of Egypt. In the present indicative, “to be” is most often expressed by anominal 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. ʕabdu l-fattāḥi s-sīsī (huwa)raʔīsu jumhūriyyati miṣra l-ʕarabiyyati. Abdel Fattah el-Sisiis the president of the Arab Republic of Egypt. Imperfect forms ofكَانَ ( kāna ) are not rare, however:They occur after certain conjunctions that must always be followed by a verb:أُرِيدُأَنْ أَكُونَ غَنِيًّا. ―ʔurīduʔan ʔakūna ḡaniyyan. ―I wantto be rich. They are sometimes used instead of a nominal sentence to provide for a clearer sentence structure. The jussive forms that end insukun sometimes drop the finalـن ( -n ) , giving:يَكُ ( yaku ) ,تَكُ ( taku ) ,أَكُ ( ʔaku ) ,نَكُ ( naku ) . كَانَ ( kāna ) is the only verb in Arabic that can be followed by a past-tense verb.Conjugation ofكَانَ كَوْن كِيَان كَيْنُونَة verbal nounالْمَصْدَر كَوْن كِيَان كَيْنُونَة kawn ,kiyān ,kaynūna active participleاِسْم الْفَاعِل كَائِن kāʔin active voiceالْفِعْل الْمَعْلُوم singularالْمُفْرَد dualالْمُثَنَّى pluralالْجَمْع 1st personالْمُتَكَلِّم 2nd personالْمُخَاطَب 3rd personالْغَائِب 2nd personالْمُخَاطَب 3rd personالْغَائِب 1st personالْمُتَكَلِّم 2nd personالْمُخَاطَب 3rd personالْغَائِب past (perfect) indicativeالْمَاضِي m كُنْتُ kuntu كُنْتَ kunta كَانَ kāna كُنْتُمَا kuntumā كَانَا kānā كُنَّا kunnā كُنْتُمْ kuntum كَانُوا kānū f كُنْتِ kunti كَانَتْ kānat كَانَتَا kānatā كُنْتُنَّ kuntunna كُنَّ kunna non-past (imperfect) indicativeالْمُضَارِع الْمَرْفُوع m أَكُونُ ʔakūnu تَكُونُ takūnu يَكُونُ yakūnu تَكُونَانِ takūnāni يَكُونَانِ yakūnāni نَكُونُ nakūnu تَكُونُونَ takūnūna يَكُونُونَ yakūnūna f تَكُونِينَ takūnīna تَكُونُ takūnu تَكُونَانِ takūnāni تَكُنَّ takunna يَكُنَّ yakunna subjunctiveالْمُضَارِع الْمَنْصُوب m أَكُونَ ʔakūna تَكُونَ takūna يَكُونَ yakūna تَكُونَا takūnā يَكُونَا yakūnā نَكُونَ nakūna تَكُونُوا takūnū يَكُونُوا yakūnū f تَكُونِي takūnī تَكُونَ takūna تَكُونَا takūnā تَكُنَّ takunna يَكُنَّ yakunna jussiveالْمُضَارِع الْمَجْزُوم m أَكُنْ أَكُ ʔakun ,ʔaku تَكُنْ تَكُ takun ,taku يَكُنْ يَكُ yakun ,yaku تَكُونَا takūnā يَكُونَا yakūnā نَكُنْ نَكُ nakun ,naku تَكُونُوا takūnū يَكُونُوا yakūnū f تَكُونِي takūnī تَكُنْ تَكُ takun ,taku تَكُونَا takūnā تَكُنَّ takunna يَكُنَّ yakunna imperativeالْأَمْر m كُنْ kun كُونَا kūnā كُونُوا kūnū f كُونِي kūnī كُنَّ kunna
FromFrench Caen
كَان • (kān ) ?
Caen city inFrance FromFrench Cannes
كَان • (kān ) ?
Cannes city inFrance Wehr, Hans (1979 ), “كون A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic , 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services,→ISBN FromArabic كَانَ ( kāna ) .
كان • (kān ) (verbal noun كون ( kōn ) )
( copulative ) be (see usage notes)( in the past-tense, auxiliary ) ( auxiliary with indicative ) Indicates progressive or continuous aspect : tobe Synonyms: قعد ( aʕad ) ,فضل ( faḍal, fiḍil ) كان بيحاول يقولّكkān biyḥāwil yiʔullakHewas trying to tell you ( auxiliary with subjunctive ) Expresses regret or condemnation :should have Synonym: بقى ( baʔa ) ( present-tense ) كانت تحاول تقولّكkān tiḥāwil tiʔullak[Then,] sheshould have tried to tell you ( auxiliary with future-tense) Indicates a past conditional :would have لو كان هنا،كان حيحلّ المشكله law kān hina,kān ḥayḥill il-muškila If he was here, hewould have solved the problem In the present indicative, it is not used, a nominal sentence is used instead.
Although this process most often goes unwritten, when suffixed with aت ( t ) , theن ( n ) is often assimilated when the word is unstressed.Withـْت ( -t ) orـْتـ ( -t- ) , theن ( n ) disappears and theت ( t ) becomes a geminate:كتّ ( kutt ) ,كتّي ( kutti ) ,كتّوا ( kuttu ) . Withـِت ( -it ) , both theن ( n ) and the vowel disappear completely:كات ( kat ,always short due it being an unstressed form ) . 1 The future tense can be prefixed with eitherهـ ( ha- ) orحـ ( ḥa- ) depending on the speaker.
FromArabic كَانَ ( kāna ) .
كان • (kān )I non-past يِكُون ( yikūn ) )
tobe South Levantine Arabic [ edit ] FromArabic كَانَ ( kāna ) .
كان • (kān )I present بكون ( bikūn ) ,active participle كاين ( kāyen ) )
tobe Synonym: ( rural ) بقى ( baka ) الشباب كانو في البيت .iš-šabābkānu fi l-bēt ―The guyswere in the house. وين كاينة ؟wēnkāyne ? ―Wherehave you been ? لازم تكوني فاهمة على وضع ه .lāzimtkūni fāhme ʕala waḍaʕo You shouldbe understanding of his situation. ( auxiliary , by extension) (with subjunctive) continuous and habitual aspect marker هي رح تكون تحكي مع الدكتور .hiyye rāḥtkūn tiḥki maʕ id-doktōr She willbe speaking to the doctor. و انا زغير ،كنت اسافر كتير مع اهل ي .w-ana zġīr,kunt asāfer ktīr maʕ ahli When I was young, Iused 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, Ihad already finished . (literally, “When you came,I was I finished it. ”) بكرا بتكون خلّصت ه .bukrabitkūn ḵallaṣt o Tomorrow youwill 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 سألت ني ، (كنت )قلت لّك .law saʔaltni,(kunt) ʔult illak If you had asked me, Iwould have told you. لو بتسأل ني ، (كنت )بقل ّك .law btisʔalni,(kunt) baʔul lak If you were to ask me, Iwould tell you. The copula "to be" is omitted in the present tense, whereas the present form ofكان ( kān ) is used to express the future tense. 
