Kana and Sisters (Part 3)

Posted by Fisal 2 Comments
Jan 20 2012

Kana and Sisters (Part 3) كانَ و أخواتها

     Kana and its sisters are special verbs in the Arabic Grammar. These verbs come at the  beginning of the  nominative sentence. The Mubtada of the nominative sentence becomes the noun subject (Ism) of Kana and sisters wheareas the Khabar becomes the Khabar of Kana and sisters. The case of the Khabar changes from the nominative case to that of the accusative and hence the Dammah changes to a Fat’ha. In the previous post, we discussed the sisters of kana that refer to time; http://www.transparent.com/arabic/kana-and-sisters-part-2/

Today, we will discuss the other verbs (sisters of Kana) and their meanings.

* صارَ  : This verb refers to CHANGE and MODIFICATION. It means “to turn into”

              Ex. – صارَ البرتقالُ عصيراً  = The ornage turned into juice.  

                    -  صارَ الماءُ بُـخاراً  = The water turned into vapor.

* ليسَ   : This verb refers to NEGATION. It means “Not”.

.             Ex.  – ليسَ الأمـرُ سِــراً  = The matter is not a secret.

                      -  ليسَ السُـؤالُ صعباً  = The question is not difficult.

*  مازالَ / ما بَرحَ / ما فتئَ / ما انفكَّ / ما دامَ   :

  • These four verbs refer to CONTINUOUS ACTIONS. They all mean “still” or “to continue”.
  • The verb ما دامَ  means “as long as” and can refer to a “period of time”.
  • These verbs must be preceded by a negation particle such as;  ما / لا / لم   in order to do the job of Kana.
  • The predicate (Khabar) of these verbs can often be a verbal sentence جملة فعلية .   

              Ex.  – ما زالَ السلامُ أملاً لكل الشعوبِ  = Peace is still a hope for all nations.

                     – ما برحَ الولدُ جائعاً   = The boy is still hungry.

                     -  ما فتئَ المطرُ منهمراً  = Rain is still pouring.

                     -  ما انفكَّ العـُـمـّـالُ يعملون بجدٍ  = The workers continued to work hard.

                     -  سأحبكِ ما دُمتُ حياً  = I will love you as long as I am alive.

*  كانَ  : This verb refers to the PAST. It means “to be”.

  • It is the most famous verb of these verbs.

              Ex. – كان الفضاءُ لغزاً  = Space was a mystery.

                     – يكون الجوُ حاراً في الصيفِ  = The weather is hot in summer.

                     – سأكونُ مُسافراً غداً  = I will be traveling tomorrow. 

 

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Next time, In Sha’a Allah,  we will learn more information about these verbs.

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Peace  سلام /Salam/

Kana and Sisters (Part 2)

Posted by Fisal No Comments
Jan 18 2012

     

       Now that we have learnt the verb Kana and its sisters, we should all ask: What do these verbs mean? What do they refer to? What are they used for? In today’s post, we will try to answer these Questions. We will look at these verbs in different categories according to their use because kana and its sisters can refer to different things. The first category of these verbs is the category of the verbs that refer to TIME. These verbs are:

* أصبحَ  : This verb refers to “something happening in the morning”. It can also mean “to become”

              Ex. – أصبح المبنى مكتملاً  = The building was completed in the morning.  

                    -  أصبحَ الفيلُ مريضاً   = The elephant became sick in the morning.

* أضحى   : This verb refers to “something happening before noon or late in the morning”. It also means “to become”.

               Ex.  – أضحى الجوُ جميلاً   = The weather has become beautiful in the late morning.

*  ظلَّ  : This verb refers to “something that is happening during the day” It can also mean “to stay” or “to remain”.

              Ex.  -  ظلَّ الولدُ صائماً حتى الغروب  = The boy remained fasting till sunset.

* أمسى   :  This verb refers to “something happening in the evening” It is the opposite of أصبح .

               Ex. – أمست الطيورُ عائدةً إلى أعشاشها  = The birds returned to their nests in the evening.

*  باتَ  : This verb means “something that is happening during the night”. It also means, “to spend the night doing something”

              Ex.  -  باتَ الحارسُ مستيقظاً   = The guard spent the night awake.    

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Next time, In Sha’a Allah,  we will continue with more meanings of these verbs.

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Peace  سلام /Salam/

Kana and Sisters (1)

Posted by Fisal No Comments
Jan 16 2012

Kana and Sisters (1) كان و أخواتها

  • The Nominal sentence consists of two parts; the subject (Mubtada) and the predicate  (Khabar).
  • Both parts of the nominal sentence are always in the Nominative (Marfo’) Case حالة الرفع .
  • The Nominative Case means that the noun often has a Dammah or a Damm Tanween on its ending.
  • Today, we will learn some special verbs that change the noun case in the nominal sentence.
  • Kana and its sisters are a group of thirteen (13) verbs that come with the nominative sentence.
  • What was Mubtada in the nominative sentence becomes the Noun (Ism اسم) of Kana and its sisters.
  • What was Khabar in the nominative sentence becomes the Khabar of Kana and its sisters.
  • Kana and its sisters are called Incomplete Verbs أفعال ناقصة because they always need a predicate; (Khabar), to complete the meaning.
  • Kana and sisters are also called أفعال ناسخة because they change the Khabar’s case from nominative (Raf’e) حالة الرفع to accusative (Nassb) حالة النصب . So, the predicate of Kana and sisters always has a Fat’ha (or Tanween) on its ending.  

 

  • These verbs are:

 

كانَ / أصبحَ / أضحى / ظلَّ / أمسى / باتَ / صارَ / ليسَ / ما زالَ / ما برحَ / ما انفكَّ / ما فتئَ / ما دامَ

 

Ex. – كان الجوُ جميلاً بالأمس  = The weather was beautiful yesterday.

       – كانَ   : A past verb Mabni on the Fat’h.

       – الجوُ : Ism of Kana Marfo’ with a dammah.

       -  جميلاً : Khabar of kana mansoub with a Fat’ha.

       – الباء : a preposition.

       – الأمسِ : Ism Majroor by the Kasrah.

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Next time, In Sha’a Allah,  we will learn more and more about these verbs.

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Peace  سلام /Salam/

The Nominal Sentence; Wrapping Up

Posted by Fisal No Comments
Jan 15 2012

Today, In Sha’a Allah, we will wrap up all what we have learnt about the nominal sentence up till now.

 

 

 

 

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Peace  سلام /Salam/

Mother of the Egyptians

Posted by Fisal 2 Comments
Jan 13 2012

Safiya Zagloul (1878 – 1946)

       

     Born to an aristocratic family, Safiya Zaghloul صفية زغلول was the daughter of Mustafa Fahmy  Pasha  مصطفى فهمي باشا , who was one of Egypt’s first Prime Ministers. She was nicknamed after her husband Saad Pasha Zaghloul سعد باشا زغلول . She was also nicknamed the ‘Mother of the Egyptians أم المصريين‘ after she had taken part in the feminist demonstrations مظاهرات نسائية  that followed the 1919 Revolution against the British occupation toEgypt. Safiya played an important role in the political life inEgypt at that time.

     Safiya was born in 1878 and died on January 12th, 1946 leaving behind a rich and extra-ordinary life of an Egyptian woman and a faithful wife زوجة مخلصة . Safiya and her husband used to open their house to all national leaders and patriotic figures to discuss the country’s politics and think together of legal and peaceful ways to embarrass the occupation. The house also was open to all kinds of people so that it was called the “House of the Nation بيت الأمة” . After her husband was sent to exile المنفى out of the country, a lot of people gathered around her house. Safiya immediately, issued a declaration بيان that was read to the angry demonstrators in which she promised that she would follow in her husband’s footsteps and that she considered herself a mother to all the Egyptians who went out to face the bullets for the sake of freedom. One of the demonstrators cheered up, “long live تحيا the mother of the Egyptians” and hence came her nickname as the Mother of the Egyptians.

      In 1921, Safiya was the first wife of a political Arab leader to appear with him publicly unveiled. She had French education تعليم and her husband gave her all credit ثقة . She was also the first Egyptian woman to carry the name of her husband like westerners. Safiya was a good example of the great Arab women.

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Peace  سلام  /Salam/

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