كان

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Many sentences in Arabic, written in the present tense, do not require the verb "to be" (e.g. "is", "are", "am"). Nominal sentences in the present tense do not use the "to be" verb, such as ٌٌُُالسماءُ أزرقٌ (al-samaa'u azraqun) - "The sky is blue".

For the past and future tense, Arabic has the verb كانَ (kana) ("to be").

  • كنتُ طالب - I was a student. (comparable to أنا طالب - I am a student)
  • كُنّا نسكن في مصر - We used to live in Egypt.

In the future tense:

  • سَأكونُ في لندن يوم الاثنين - I will be in London on Monday.

There are a few situations where present tense sentences need to use كانَ.

Conjugation

As with other verbs in Arabic, كانَ is conjugated.

To be - كانَ
kana - to be, Form I
Perfect or "past" tense
  • كُنتُ - I
  • كُنّا - We
  • كُنْتَ - You (m. sing)
  • كُنْتِ - You (f. sing)
  • كُنْتُما - You (m. dual)
  • كُنْتُما - You (f. dual)
  • كُنْتُم - You (m. pl)
  • كُنْتُنِّ - You (f. pl)
  • كانَ - He
  • كانَتْ - She
  • كانا - They (m. dual)
  • كانَتا - They (f. dual)
  • كانوا - They (m. pl)
  • كُنَّ - They (f. pl)

Sentences

  • كان هو الولد الثالث - He was the third child.
  • كانَت فيلادلفيا أول العاصمة للولايات المتحدة - Philadelphia was the first capital of the United States.
Imperfect or "present" tense
  • أَكونُ - I
  • نَكونُ - We
  • تَكونُ - You (m. sing)
  • تَكونينَ - You (f. sing)
  • تَكونانِ - You (m. dual)
  • تَكونانِ - You (f. dual)
  • تَكونونَ - You (m. pl)
  • تَكونَّ - You (f. pl)
  • يَكونُ - He
  • تَكونُ - She
  • يَكونانِ - They (m. dual)
  • تَكونانِ - They (f. dual)
  • يَكونونَ - They (m. pl)
  • يَكُنَّ - They (f. pl)

Sentences

  • أَكونُ في مكتبي فيالساعة النامنة صباحاً - I am at my office at 8 o'clock in the morning.
  • -
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I am studying Arabic at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC, and will be in Egypt in the summer. This site covers Arabic grammar, vocabulary, and other aspects of the Arabic language, and makes frequent use of YouTube videos, news, and other Arabic language resources on the Internet.


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