Inna and Its Sisters
إِنَّ وَأَخَوَاتُهَا
Lesson 18 of 18Next: The Definite Article in Arabic →
Six small words can stand at the start of a nominal sentence and change its endings. The best known is إِنَّ (indeed): after it the subject takes the accusative and the predicate stays in the nominative, as in إِنَّ الطَّقْسَ جَمِيلٌ (the weather is really nice).
The Opposite of Kana
With كَانَ the predicate changes. With إِنَّ and its sisters it is the other way round: the subject takes the accusative (ـَ, or ـًا without ال) and the predicate keeps the nominative (ـُ, or ـٌ without ال). As in the lesson on كَانَ, the endings are shown here because they are the point.
| Sentence | Subject | Predicate |
|---|---|---|
| الْبَيْتُ كَبِيرٌ | nominative | nominative |
| كَانَ الْبَيْتُ كَبِيرًا | nominative | accusative |
| إِنَّ الْبَيْتَ كَبِيرٌ | accusative | nominative |
A feminine plural in ـَات takes ـِ in the accusative, not ـَ: إِنَّ الطَّالِبَاتِ مُجْتَهِدَاتٌ (the students are really hard-working).
The Six Particles
All six work the same way. Only their meaning and the place where they are used differ.
| Particle | Meaning | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| إِنَّ | indeed, truly | stressing a statement; after قَالَ |
| أَنَّ | that | after verbs like عَرَفَ, سَمِعَ, أَظُنّ |
| لٰكِنَّ | but | linking two sentences |
| كَأَنَّ | as if, like | comparing |
| لَعَلَّ | perhaps | a hope or a guess |
| لَيْتَ | if only | a wish that will probably not come true |
Test yourself
5 quick questions on this lesson. How many can you get right?
Choose the right answer.
Pronoun Suffixes
When the subject is a pronoun, it is attached to the particle as a suffix, with the same endings as on nouns: إِنَّهُ, أَنَّكَ, لَعَلَّهَا. A separate pronoun like هُوَ is never used here. With ـنِي (me) and ـنَا (us) one ن can drop: لٰكِنَّنِي or لٰكِنِّي, إِنَّنَا or إِنَّا.
| Person | With إِنَّ | With لٰكِنَّ |
|---|---|---|
| I | إِنَّنِي، إِنِّي | لٰكِنَّنِي، لٰكِنِّي |
| you (m.) | إِنَّكَ | لٰكِنَّكَ |
| you (f.) | إِنَّكِ | لٰكِنَّكِ |
| he | إِنَّهُ | لٰكِنَّهُ |
| she | إِنَّهَا | لٰكِنَّهَا |
| we | إِنَّنَا، إِنَّا | لٰكِنَّنَا، لٰكِنَّا |
| they (m.) | إِنَّهُمْ | لٰكِنَّهُمْ |
Inna or Anna?
Both have a double n, but they go in different places. إِنَّ starts a sentence, and in careful Arabic it also comes straight after قَالَ (to say). أَنَّ means "that" and comes after other verbs, such as عَرَفَ (to know), سَمِعَ (to hear) and أَظُنّ (I think). The everyday word لِأَنَّ (because) is لِـ plus أَنَّ.
Common Mistakes
- Leaving the subject in the nominative: say إِنَّ الطَّقْسَ جَمِيلٌ, not إِنَّ الطَّقْسُ جَمِيلٌ.
- Putting the predicate in the accusative, as with كَانَ: say إِنَّ الْبَيْتَ كَبِيرٌ, not إِنَّ الْبَيْتَ كَبِيرًا.
- Using a separate pronoun: say إِنَّهُ مَشْغُولٌ, not إِنَّ هُوَ مَشْغُولٌ.
- Using أَنَّ after قَالَ: say قَالَ إِنَّهُ مُتْعَبٌ, not قَالَ أَنَّهُ مُتْعَبٌ.
- Putting لٰكِنَّ right before a verb: it needs a noun or a suffix (لٰكِنَّنِي أَعْمَل). Before a verb, use the short لٰكِنْ (لٰكِنْ أَعْمَل).
Example Sentences
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