إنّ وأخواتها
إنّ (indeed/verily) and its sisters: subject becomes accusative, predicate stays nominative
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
إنّ الكتابَ كبيرٌ.
Indeed, the book is big.
إنّ الطقسَ جميلٌ اليوم.
The weather is indeed beautiful today.
أعرف أنّ الامتحانَ صعبٌ.
I know that the exam is difficult.
لكنّ المشكلةَ بسيطةٌ.
But the problem is simple.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
إنّ وأخواتها — Inna and Its Sisters
إنّ (indeed) enters a nominal sentence and puts the subject in accusative while the predicate stays nominative. This is the opposite of كان.
| Particle | Meaning |
|---|---|
| إنَّ | indeed, verily |
| أنَّ | that (conjunction) |
| لكنَّ | but, however |
| لأنَّ | because |
Pattern: إنّ + subject (منصوب) + predicate (مرفوع). Compare: الكتابُ كبيرٌ → إنّ الكتابَ كبيرٌ (subject gets fatha).
إنّ الكتابَ كبيرٌ.
Indeed, the book is big.
إنّ puts الكتاب in accusative (الكتابَ with fatha). The predicate كبيرٌ stays nominative.
إنّ الطقسَ جميلٌ اليوم.
The weather is indeed beautiful today.
الطقسَ (the weather) is in accusative after إنّ. جميلٌ (beautiful) stays nominative as the predicate.
أعرف أنّ الامتحانَ صعبٌ.
I know that the exam is difficult.
أنّ (that) is a sister of إنّ used as a conjunction. الامتحانَ is accusative, صعبٌ is nominative.
لكنّ المشكلةَ بسيطةٌ.
But the problem is simple.
لكنّ (but) is another sister of إنّ. المشكلةَ is accusative, بسيطةٌ stays nominative.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises