Arabic - English Dictionary كأنْ
Root: ك أ ن
حرف ناسخ، ينصب المبتدأ ويرفع الخبر مُخَفَّف النون من كأنَّ المشدّدة، اسمه ضمير الشأن محذوف وخبره جملة اسميّة أو مفردٌ لا يحتاج إلى فاصل أو جملة فعليَّة مسبوقة بفاصل
🇬🇧 Translation:
A ناسخ (cancelling/governing) particle that gives an accusative to the subject and a nominative to the predicate, being the lightened form of the doubled ka'anna. Its subject is an omitted pronoun of the matter (damir al-shan), and its predicate is either a nominal sentence or a single term not needing a separator, or a verbal sentence preceded by a separator.
Example / Citation:
- " وجه الفتاة مشرق كأنْ قمرٌ : الخبر مفرد فلا يحتاج إلى فاصل
- لا يهوِّلنّك اصطلاء لظى الحَرْ … ب فمحذورها كأنْ قد ألمّا : الخبر جملة فعليّة فاحتاج إلى الفاصل
- {كَأَنْ لَمْ تَغْنَ بِالأَمْسِ}
- {فَلَمَّا كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُ ضُرَّهُ مَرَّ كَأَنْ لَمْ يَدْعُنَا إِلَى ضُرٍّ مَسَّهُ} "
🇬🇧 Translation:
- "The girl's face is radiant as though [it were] a moon: the predicate is a single term so it needs no separator
- Let not the scorching blaze of war terrify you... for its feared danger is as though it has already befallen: the predicate is a verbal sentence so it needed a separator
- {As if they had not prospered there yesterday}
- {And when We removed his adversity from him, he passed on as if he had never supplicated Us to [remove] an adversity that touched him}"