إنّ وأخواتها: rules, examples & exercises | Arabic Grammar A1

إنّ وأخواتها

A1 — النحو

إنّ (indeed/verily) and its sisters: subject becomes accusative, predicate stays nominative

Examples

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.

النحوA1

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).

Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises

Practice Exercises

Learners confuse كان (predicate→accusative) with إنّ (subject→accusative). Remember: كان affects the خبر, إنّ affects the اسم. English speakers: No English equivalent changes noun cases. Think of إنّ as an emphatic marker that also triggers a grammar change. Russian speakers: Similar to how Russian что requires specific case patterns. إنّ changes the subject to accusative (винительный). Czech speakers: Similar to Czech conjunctions requiring specific cases. إنّ is an emphatic particle that puts the subject into accusative.

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

A1 Course

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Frequently asked questions

When is إنّ وأخواتها used?: إنّ (indeed) enters a nominal sentence and puts the subject in accusative while the predicate stays nominative. This is the opposite of كان.
How is إنّ وأخواتها formed?: Pattern: إنّ + subject (منصوب) + predicate (مرفوع). Compare: الكتابُ كبيرٌ → إنّ الكتابَ كبيرٌ (subject gets fatha).
What are common mistakes with إنّ وأخواتها?: Learners confuse كان (predicate→accusative) with إنّ (subject→accusative). Remember: كان affects the خبر, إنّ affects the اسم. English speakers: No English equivalent changes noun cases. Think of إنّ as an emphatic marker that also triggers a grammar change. Russian speakers: Similar to how Russian что requires specific case patterns. إنّ changes the subject to accusative (винительный). Czech speakers: Similar to Czech conjunctions requiring specific cases. إنّ is an emphatic particle that puts the subject into accusative.