A nominal sentence in Arabic is affirmative and is in the present tense. In order to modify the function and meaning of a nominal sentence, Arabic uses a group of verbs whose basic function is to work on nominal sentences. This group of verbs is named كانَ وَأخَواتُها or "kaana and its sisters" after the verb كانَ which changes a nominal sentence to the past tense.
The following sentence is a normal nominal sentence in the present tense:
ألْمُديرُ
هُنا
The director is here.
This sentence be changed to the past by using كانَ, in which case the sentence becomes:
كانَ
الْمُديرُ
هُنا
The director was here.
Kaana and its sisters require that the predicate be in the accusative case.
Examples:
الطَّقْسُ
جَميلٌ
"The weather is beautiful."
becomes:
كانَ
الطَّقْسُ
جَميلا
"The weather was beautiful."
الرَّئيسُ
مُسافِرٌ
"The president is traveling."
becomes:
كانَ
الرَّئيسُ
مُسافِرا
"The president was traveling."
The following is a list of kaana's sisters with sample sentences:
لَيْسَ - "not" (This word is conjugated like a verb.)
الطَّقْسُ
جَميلٌ
"The weather is beautiful."
becomes:
لَيْسَ
الطَّقْسُ
جَميلٌ
"The weather is not beautiful."
باتَ \ صارَ \ أمْسى \ أصْبَحَ - "become"
أصبَحَ صَديقي مُديرًا
أمْسى صَديقي مُديرًا
صارَ صَديقي مُديرًا
َباتَ صَديقي مُديرًا
The above four sentences all translate as "My friend became a manager."
مازالَ \ مازالَتْ - "still" (This word is conjugated like a verb.)
مازالَ
الرَّئيسُ
نائمًا
The president is still asleep.
بَقِيَ \ ظَلًَّ - "to remain", "to continue"
ظَلَّ
الرَّئيسُ
نائِمًا
مِنَ
السَّاعَةِ
السَّابِعَةِ
مَساءً
حَتّى
السّاعَةِ
الثامِنَةِ
صَباحًا
The president remained asleep from 7 p.m. to 8 a.m.
بَقِيَ
الْمُوَظِّفونَ
يَعْمَلونَ
عَلى
التَّقْريرِ
كُلَّ
اللَّيْلِ
The employees kept working on the report all night.
مادامَ - "as long as" (This word is conjugated like a verb.)
مادامَ صَديقي مُسافِرًا فَسَوْفَ أعْني بِكَلْبِهِ
As long as my friend is traveling, I will look after his dog.
See also: