The Ism of Kāna and Its Sisters

1. Kāna and Its Sisters

فَصْلٌ: اسْمُ كَانَ وَأَخَوَاتِهَا.
Translation: This section concerns the subject (ism) of kāna and its sister verbs.

They are called incomplete verbs in this construction, because they take an ism and a khabar. The source first lists the forms and then states their grammatical government.

2. Source List: First Four

1- صَارَ، 2- أَصْبَحَ، 3- أَمْسَى، 4- أَضْحَى.
Translation: 1. Ṣāra, 2. aṣbaḥa, 3. amsā, 4. aḍḥā.

Ṣāra expresses becoming; the other three have morning, evening and forenoon associations and may also convey a change of state according to context.

3. Source List: Next Four

5- ظَلَّ، 6- بَاتَ، 7- آضَ، 8- عَادَ.
Translation: 5. Ẓalla, 6. bāta, 7. āḍa, 8. ʿāda.

Ẓalla often suggests remaining in a state by day, bāta by night, while āḍa and ʿāda can express becoming or returning to a state.

4. Source List: From Ghadā to Mā Bariḥa

9- غَدَا، 10- رَاحَ، 11- مَا زَالَ، 12- مَا بَرِحَ.
Translation: 9. Ghadā, 10. rāḥa, 11. mā zāla, 12. mā bariḥa.

Ghadā and rāḥa have temporal associations. Mā zāla and mā bariḥa express continuation; learn them together with the initial mā appearing in the book.

5. Source List: Final Four

13- مَا فَتِئَ، 14- مَا انْفَكَّ، 15- مَا دَامَ، 16- لَيْسَ.
Translation: 13. Mā fatiʾa, 14. mā infakka, 15. mā dāma, 16. laysa.

Mā fatiʾa and mā infakka convey continuance, mā dāma duration, and laysa negation. In the incomplete-verb construction their ism is nominative and khabar accusative.

6. Counting the Forms Correctly

The printed list gives 16 sisters of kāna; adding كَانَ makes 17 verbs in this family.

Remember the mā-prefixed forms as a distinct group. Do not assume bare zāla or bariḥa always has the same incomplete-verb use as the listed forms.

7. Recall the Original Nominal Sentence

زَيْدٌ قَائِمٌ
Translation: Zayd is standing.
زَيْدٌ: mubtadaʾ, nominative with ḍamma.
قَائِمٌ: khabar, nominative with ḍamma.

With no governing operator entering, both are nominative. Kāna changes the case of the predicate when it enters.

8. The Governing Rule from the Book

فَهَذِهِ الْأَفْعَالُ تَدْخُلُ أَيْضًا عَلَى الْمُبْتَدَإِ وَالْخَبَرِ، فَتَرْفَعُ الْمُبْتَدَأَ وَيُسَمَّى اسْمَ «كَانَ»، وَتَنْصِبُ الْخَبَرَ وَيُسَمَّى خَبَرَ «كَانَ».
Translation: These verbs enter a mubtadaʾ–khabar construction, retain the former mubtadaʾ as a nominative noun called ism kāna, and put its khabar in the accusative, called khabar kāna.

This reverses the familiar pattern of inna and its sisters: inna has an accusative ism and nominative khabar, while kāna has a nominative ism and accusative khabar.

9. The Ism of Kāna in the Source

فَاسْمُ «كَانَ» هُوَ الْمُسْنَدُ إِلَيْهِ بَعْدَ دُخُولِهَا، نَحْوُ: «كَانَ زَيْدٌ قَائِمًا».
Translation: The ism of kāna is the entity about which information is predicated after kāna enters; for example: Zayd was standing.

The musnad ilayh is what the statement is about: «قَائِمًا» is predicated of «زَيْدٌ». Hence Zayd is ism kāna, not an ordinary fāʿil or direct object.

10. Full Parsing: Kāna Zaydun Qāʾiman

كَانَ زَيْدٌ قَائِمًا
Translation: Zayd was standing.
كَانَ: past-tense incomplete verb, built on fatḥa.
زَيْدٌ: nominative ism kāna, visible ḍamma.
قَائِمًا: accusative khabar kāna, visible fatḥa.

Zayd retains the nominative ending, but the predicate changes from «قَائِمٌ» to «قَائِمًا». Focus on this actual case change.

11. Compare Inna and Kāna

زَيْدٌ قَائِمٌ — nominative mubtadaʾ and khabar.
إِنَّ زَيْدًا قَائِمٌ — accusative ism inna; nominative khabar.
كَانَ زَيْدٌ قَائِمًا — nominative ism kāna; accusative khabar.

Fāʿil, direct object and ism kāna are not interchangeable labels. A nominative noun after kāna is not simply classified as the verb’s ordinary doer.

12. Why Is the Verb Called Incomplete?

كَانَ زَيْدٌ ... still invites “Zayd was what?”
كَانَ زَيْدٌ مَرِيضًا completes the statement: Zayd was ill.

The term incomplete verb describes this predicative use, requiring a khabar in addition to an ism. It does not deny that kāna can have other uses elsewhere.

13. Worked Example: Ṣāra Indicates Change

صَارَ الْمَاءُ ثَلْجًا
Translation: The water became ice.
صَارَ: past incomplete verb.
الْمَاءُ: nominative ism ṣāra, visible ḍamma.
ثَلْجًا: accusative khabar ṣāra, visible fatḥa.

«ثَلْجًا» does not name a separate object acted upon; it states the water’s resulting condition, so it is khabar ṣāra.

14. Worked Example: Aṣbaḥa

أَصْبَحَ الطَّقْسُ بَارِدًا
Translation: The weather became cold / was cold in the morning.
أَصْبَحَ: past incomplete verb.
الطَّقْسُ: nominative ism aṣbaḥa.
بَارِدًا: accusative khabar aṣbaḥa.

Context determines whether the emphasis is on morning time or on becoming. The case pattern remains unchanged.

15. Worked Example: Ẓalla

ظَلَّ الْعَامِلُ نَشِيطًا
Translation: The worker remained active during the day.
ظَلَّ: past incomplete verb.
الْعَامِلُ: nominative ism ẓalla.
نَشِيطًا: accusative khabar ẓalla.

The verb suggests continuance, but «نَشِيطًا» remains its accusative khabar because of the incomplete verb’s government.

16. Worked Example: Bāta

بَاتَ الطِّفْلُ نَائِمًا
Translation: The child spent the night asleep.
بَاتَ: past incomplete verb.
الطِّفْلُ: nominative ism bāta.
نَائِمًا: accusative khabar bāta.

The child is the entity being described; sleeping is the state predicated of that child.

17. Worked Example: Mā Zāla

مَا زَالَ الْمَرِيضُ صَابِرًا
Translation: The patient has continued to be patient.
مَا: negative particle.
زَالَ: past incomplete verb.
الْمَرِيضُ: nominative ism zāla.
صَابِرًا: accusative khabar zāla.

Here mā zāla combines into a continuative sense. Dropping mā alters this recognized use and its meaning.

18. Worked Example: Mā Dāma

سَأَدْرُسُ مَا دَامَ الْوَقْتُ مُتَّسِعًا
Translation: I will study for as long as time permits.
سَـ: future marker; أَدْرُسُ: present indicative with implicit “I” subject.
مَا: source-forming, adverbial mā.
دَامَ: past incomplete verb.
الْوَقْتُ: nominative ism dāma.
مُتَّسِعًا: accusative khabar dāma.

Mā in mā dāma expresses duration through a verbal-noun construction; it differs from the negative mā in mā zāla.

19. Worked Example: Laysa

لَيْسَ الْبَابُ مَفْتُوحًا
Translation: The door is not open.
لَيْسَ: defective, past-form, inflexible negative verb.
الْبَابُ: nominative ism laysa.
مَفْتُوحًا: accusative khabar laysa.

Negation does not reverse the grammatical case pattern: the predicate remains accusative.

20. When the Ism Is Dual

كَانَ الطَّالِبَانِ حَاضِرَيْنِ
Translation: The two students were present.
كَانَ: past incomplete verb.
الطَّالِبَانِ: dual nominative ism kāna, marked by alif.
حَاضِرَيْنِ: dual accusative khabar kāna, marked by yāʾ.

The grammatical roles stay the same; case endings change with the noun class. Not every nominative uses visible ḍamma or every accusative visible fatḥa.

21. Sound Feminine Plural Predicate

كَانَتِ الْمُعَلِّمَاتُ حَاضِرَاتٍ
Translation: The women teachers were present.
كَانَتْ: past defective verb with feminine tāʾ (linking vowel shown in continuous recitation).
الْمُعَلِّمَاتُ: nominative ism kāna with ḍamma.
حَاضِرَاتٍ: accusative khabar kāna, marked by kasra for a sound feminine plural.

Do not call this predicate genitive just because it has kasra; here it is a valid accusative marker.

22. The Source: Khabar before Ism

وَيَجُوزُ فِي الْكُلِّ تَقْدِيمُ أَخْبَارِهَا عَلَى أَسْمَائِهَا، نَحْوُ: «كَانَ قَائِمًا زَيْدٌ».
Translation: For all these verbs, the khabar may come before their ism, as in “Kāna qāʾiman Zaydun,” with the predicate placed first.

Predicate fronting changes word order without reversing case: «قَائِمًا» stays accusative khabar kāna and «زَيْدٌ» stays nominative ism kāna.

23. Full Parsing of Fronted Khabar

كَانَ قَائِمًا زَيْدٌ
Translation: Zayd was standing (the predicate comes first).
كَانَ: past incomplete verb.
قَائِمًا: fronted accusative khabar kāna.
زَيْدٌ: delayed nominative ism kāna.

The first noun after the verb is not necessarily its ism; case and predication identify the roles.

24. The Source: Khabar before the Verb

وَعَلَى نَفْسِ الْأَفْعَالِ أَيْضًا فِي التِّسْعَةِ الْأُوَلِ، نَحْوُ: «قَائِمًا كَانَ زَيْدٌ».
Translation: The book also permits a predicate to appear before the verb itself in what it calls the first nine forms; for example, “Qāʾiman kāna Zaydun.”

Reading note: The author says “the first nine”; retain that wording rather than extending it indiscriminately to every listed verb, especially the forms with mā and laysa.

25. Full Parsing: Predicate Before Kāna

قَائِمًا كَانَ زَيْدٌ
Translation: Zayd was standing (the predicate comes before the verb).
قَائِمًا: accusative khabar kāna fronted before the verb.
كَانَ: past incomplete verb.
زَيْدٌ: delayed nominative ism kāna.

Compare with «كَانَ زَيْدٌ قَائِمًا» and «كَانَ قَائِمًا زَيْدٌ»: the primary case relations stay intact across the three orders.

26. Three Word Orders Compared

كَانَ زَيْدٌ قَائِمًا — verb + ism + khabar.
كَانَ قَائِمًا زَيْدٌ — verb + fronted khabar + delayed ism.
قَائِمًا كَانَ زَيْدٌ — predicate + verb + subject noun.

In all three, Zayd stays nominative ism kāna and qāʾiman stays accusative khabar kāna. The ordering may affect focus, not the core case assignment.

27. Restriction with Initial Mā

وَلَا يَجُوزُ ذَلِكَ فِيمَا أَوَّلُهُ «مَا»، فَلَا يُقَالُ: «قَائِمًا مَا زَالَ زَيْدٌ».
Translation: With verbs beginning with mā, this fronting of the khabar before the whole mā + verb unit is not permitted under the book’s rule; thus “Qāʾiman mā zāla Zaydun” is not a permitted standard pattern.

The book gives this as a prohibited order, not as a model sentence to memorize.

28. Valid Alternative with Mā Zāla

مَا زَالَ زَيْدٌ قَائِمًا
Translation: Zayd has continued standing.
مَا: negative particle.
زَالَ: past incomplete verb.
زَيْدٌ: nominative ism zāla.
قَائِمًا: accusative khabar zāla.

The prohibition concerns moving the predicate ahead of the entire mā + verb unit; the ordinary case rule remains the same.

29. The Source Notes a Disagreement about Laysa

وَفِي «لَيْسَ» خِلَافٌ.
Translation: Grammarians disagree about whether the khabar may be placed before the verb laysa.

The book registers a scholarly disagreement but does not present the full arguments. Learn the uncontroversial order «لَيْسَ زَيْدٌ قَائِمًا» before studying the disputed fronting.

30. Do Not Confuse Three Positions

1. كَانَ قَائِمًا زَيْدٌ — khabar before the ism, after kāna: allowed.
2. قَائِمًا كَانَ زَيْدٌ — khabar even before the verb: the book’s allowed pattern.
3. قَائِمًا مَا زَالَ زَيْدٌ — not allowed according to the stated mā restriction.

Fronting the predicate before an ism and fronting it before the verb itself are distinct syntactic operations.

31. How to Identify the Two Complements

كَانَ الطَّبِيبُ مَشْغُولًا
Translation: The doctor was occupied.
الطَّبِيبُ: who is being described? The doctor → nominative ism.
مَشْغُولًا: what condition is being ascribed? Occupied → accusative khabar.

Ask the same questions with fronted order «قَائِمًا كَانَ زَيْدٌ» rather than relying only on position.

32. A Brief Note on Non-Single-Word Predicates

كَانَ زَيْدٌ فِي الْمَدْرَسَةِ
Translation: Zayd was at school.
كَانَ: past incomplete verb; زَيْدٌ: nominative ism.
فِي: preposition; الْمَدْرَسَةِ: genitive noun.
The phrase فِي الْمَدْرَسَةِ relates to an understood accusative predicate of kāna.

A predicate can occupy an accusative syntactic role without every word in its phrase showing fatḥa.

33. A Verbal-Clause Predicate

كَانَ الْمُعَلِّمُ يَشْرَحُ الدَّرْسَ
Translation: The teacher was explaining the lesson.
كَانَ: past incomplete verb.
الْمُعَلِّمُ: nominative ism kāna.
يَشْرَحُ: nominative present verb with concealed subject huwa referring to the teacher.
الدَّرْسَ: accusative direct object.
يَشْرَحُ الدَّرْسَ: verbal clause occupying the predicate position of kāna.

34. The Ism Can Be a Pronoun

كُنْتُ مَرِيضًا
Translation: I was ill.
كُنْ: past incomplete verb built on sukūn because of attached subject pronoun.
تُ: attached pronoun in nominative syntactic position as ism kāna.
مَرِيضًا: accusative khabar kāna.

The ism need not be an overt name such as Zayd; it may be a connected pronoun.

35. Shared Case Government Across the Family

صَارَ الْمَاءُ ثَلْجًا — water became ice.
أَصْبَحَ الطَّقْسُ بَارِدًا — the weather became cold.
مَا زَالَ الْمَرِيضُ صَابِرًا — the patient continued being patient.
لَيْسَ الْبَابُ مَفْتُوحًا — the door is not open.

The semantic nuances differ, but each example follows nominative ism plus accusative khabar.

36. Distinguishing Source and Teaching Examples

The book’s examples here are كَانَ زَيْدٌ قَائِمًا, كَانَ قَائِمًا زَيْدٌ and قَائِمًا كَانَ زَيْدٌ.

Examples such as صَارَ الْمَاءُ ثَلْجًا and أَصْبَحَ الطَّقْسُ بَارِدًا are additional teaching illustrations, not wording quoted from the book. Keep source and pedagogy distinct.

37. The Author Defers Further Detail

وَبَاقِي الْكَلَامِ فِي هَذِهِ الْأَفْعَالِ يَجِيءُ فِي الْقِسْمِ الثَّانِي إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى.
Translation: The remainder of the discussion of these verbs will come in the book’s second part, God willing.

The lesson has covered the government, source examples and fronting rules provided here, without importing the book’s later discussion as if it appeared on this page.

38. Summary and a Four-Step Method

1. Find kāna or a sister verb in its incomplete-verb use.
2. Ask who or what is described: that is the nominative ism kāna.
3. Ask what is predicated: that is the accusative khabar kāna, whether a word or clause.
4. Check ordinary and fronted order separately; remember the special restrictions mentioned for mā-forms and the dispute over laysa.