A Conversational Course in Qur'ānic Arabic

لُغَةُ القُرْآنِ

Phase 3 · Chapter Fifteen

كَانَ وَقَالَ

Kāna and Qāla — The Two Essential Irregulars

Two of the most common verbs in the Qur'ān — كَانَ (“was/were”) and قَالَ (“said”) — don't follow Chapter Seventeen's pattern exactly, because their middle root letter is a “weak” و. You don't need the full theory yet: just learn these two irregular but essential conjugations directly.

Every Arabic passage has a small circle button — click it to hear it read aloud using your browser's own Arabic voice.

BY THE END OF THIS CHAPTER YOU WILL BE ABLE TO

Conjugate كَانَ (was/were) for he, she, I, you, we
Explain how كَانَ changes a nominal sentence's khabar from nominative to accusative
Conjugate قَالَ (said) and use it to report simple speech
Read the shortest complete sūrah, opened by قَالَ

TEACHER NOTES

Pacing: 45 min

Prerequisite check: Past tense isn't required yet — kāna/qāla are taught as their own pattern.

Watch out for: حَسَنًا and حَقًّا are exactly the kind of filler words that make spoken Arabic sound natural — worth over-drilling.

01 — LISTEN & REPEAT

حِوَارٌDialogue

Maryam and Yūsuf talk about how things used to be, and what people said. Listen twice, then read aloud.

MARYAM

كَيْفَ كَانَتْ مَدْرَسَتُكَ قَبْلَ عَشْرِ سِنِينَ؟

kayfa kānat madrasatuka qabla ‘ashri sinīn?

What was your school like ten years ago?

YŪSUF

كَانَتْ صَغِيرَةً وَهَادِئَةً.

kānat ṣaghīratan wa hādi’ah.

It was small and quiet.

MARYAM

وَمَاذَا قَالَ أُسْتَاذُكَ عَنِ الِامْتِحَانِ؟

wa mādhā qāla ustādhuka ‘ani-l-imtiḥān?

And what did your teacher say about the exam?

YŪSUF

قَالَ إِنَّهُ سَهْلٌ إِنْ ذَاكَرْنَا.

qāla innahu sahlun in dhākarnā.

He said it's easy if we study.

MARYAM

كُنْتُ خَائِفَةً، لَكِنِّي الْآنَ مُطْمَئِنَّةٌ.

kuntu khā’ifatan, lākinnī-l-āna muṭma’innah.

I was afraid, but now I'm at ease.

02 — CORE WORDS

الْمُفْرَدَاتُVocabulary

Both verbs are ‘hollow’ — their middle letter shifts depending on the ending.

Arabic	Says	Meaning	Note
NEWكَانَ	kāna	he was	—
NEWكَانَتْ	kānat	she was	—
NEWكُنْتُ	kuntu	I was	Notice the و resurfaces as ُ before a consonant ending.
REVIEWكُنْتَ / كُنْتِ	kunta / kunti	you (m./f.) were	—
NEWكُنَّا	kunnā	we were	—
NEWقَالَ / قَالَتْ	qāla / qālat	he said / she said	—
NEWقُلْتُ	qultu	I said	—
NEWهَادِئٌ	hādi’	calm, quiet	—

Also in this chapter's dialogue and reading.

Arabic	Says	Meaning	Note
EARLYحَسَنًا	ḥasanan	okay, fine	One of the most common discourse words in spoken Arabic.
EARLYحَقًّا	ḥaqqan	really, truly	—
EARLYسَهْلٌ / صَعْبٌ	sahl / ṣa‘b	easy / difficult	—
EARLYالِامْتِحَانُ	al-imtiḥān	the exam	—
EARLYصَغِيرٌ	ṣaghīr	small, young	—
EARLYرَجُلٌ	rajul	a man	—
EARLYعَنْ	‘an	about, from	—

03 — HOW THE LANGUAGE WORKS

رُكْنُ الْقَوَاعِدِGrammar Corner

Kāna changes the khabar's case. In an ordinary nominal sentence (Ch.1), both mubtada’ and khabar are nominative. Insert كَانَ to talk about the past, and the khabar switches to accusative.

الْمَدْرَسَةُ صَغِيرَةٌ

al-madrasatu ṣaghīratun
The school is small. (present, both raf‘)

كَانَتِ الْمَدْرَسَةُ صَغِيرَةً

kānati-l-madrasatu ṣaghīratan
The school was small. (khabar now naṣb)

Qāla simply reports speech. Follow it with a quoted or reported sentence, exactly as in English.

قَالَ: “إِنَّهُ سَهْلٌ”

qāla: “innahu sahl”
He said: “it is easy.”

Quick check: in كَانَ الْبَيْتُ كَبِيرًا (the house was big), why does كَبِيرًا end in ‑an? (It's the khabar of kāna, so it takes the accusative.)

04 — READING THE SOURCE

وَقْفَةٌ قُرْآنِيَّةٌQur'ān Connection

The shortest complete sūrah in the Qur'ān — and it opens with the exact verb you just learned.

SŪRAT AL-IKHLĀṢ — 112:1

قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ

Say: He is Allah, One.

قُلْ

qul

say (a command form of قَالَ)

هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ

huwa-llāhu aḥad

He is Allah, One

قُلْ is a shortened command form of قَالَ — in commands, hollow verbs like this one drop their middle vowel entirely. You'll learn commands formally in a later chapter, but now the connection to قَالَ is visible.

05 — SAY IT LIKE A NATIVE

عِبَارَاتٌ يَوْمِيَّةٌEveryday Phrases

Everyday phrases using kāna and qāla.

كَيْفَ كُنْتَ؟

kayfa kunta? — how were you (doing)?

مَاذَا قُلْتَ؟

mādhā qulta? — what did you say?

كَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا

kāna-llāhu ghafūran raḥīman — Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful

قَالَ لِي أُسْتَاذِي

qāla lī ustādhī — my teacher told me

كُنَّا صِغَارًا

kunnā ṣighāran — we were young

قِيلَ لِي إِنَّ...

qīla lī anna... — I was told that...

كَانَ يَا مَا كَانَ

kāna yā mā kān — once upon a time

مَاذَا قَالَتْ؟

mādhā qālat? — what did she say?

SKILLS PRACTICE

الِاسْتِمَاعُListening

Audio track 14.1

Aḥmad tells Salmā what he used to be like, and reports what his teacher said. Listen first, script second.

AḨMAD

كُنْتُ خَجُولًا جِدًّا فِي صِغَرِي.

SALMĀ

حَقًّا؟ وَمَاذَا قَالَ أَهْلُكَ عَنْ ذَلِكَ؟

AḨMAD

قَالُوا إِنَّهُ سَيَتَغَيَّرُ مَعَ الْوَقْتِ.

SALMĀ

وَقَدْ تَغَيَّرْتَ فِعْلًا، مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ.

What was Aḥmad like as a child?
What did his family say about it?
What does Salmā observe now?

Reveal answers

1. Very shy. 2. That it would change with time. 3. That he really has changed.

SKILLS PRACTICE

التَّحَدُّثُSpeaking

Pair work

Partner drill. Ask your partner “كَيْفَ كُنْتَ/كُنْتِ فِي صِغَرِكَ؟” and “مَاذَا قُلْتَ لِـ ___ الْيَوْمَ؟”

Recycling round. Answer صِغَرِكَ with a Phase 1 adjective (صَغِيرٌ، جَمِيلٌ) and a family word — "كُنْتُ صَغِيرًا فِي بَيْتِ جَدِّي," "I was small at my grandfather's house."

SKILLS PRACTICE

الْقِرَاءَةُReading

Read silently, then aloud

Read once for meaning, then aloud.

كَانَ جَدِّي رَجُلًا صَالِحًا. قَالَ لِي مَرَّةً: “اقْرَأِ الْقُرْآنَ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ.” كُنْتُ صَغِيرًا حِينَهَا، لَكِنِّي قُلْتُ: “حَسَنًا يَا جَدِّي.” الْآنَ أَنَا كَبِيرٌ، وَمَا زِلْتُ أَذْكُرُ كَلَامَهُ.

1) كَيْفَ كَانَ جَدُّ الْكَاتِبِ؟

أ) رَجُلًا صَالِحًاب) رَجُلًا قَاسِيًاج) رَجُلًا كَسُولًاد) رَجُلًا غَرِيبًا

2) مَاذَا قَالَ الْجَدُّ لِلْكَاتِبِ؟

أ) اقْرَأِ الْقُرْآنَ كُلَّ يَوْمٍب) اكْتُبْ رِسَالَةًج) اذْهَبْ إِلَى السُّوقِد) نَمْ مُبَكِّرًا

3) مَاذَا قَالَ الْكَاتِبُ رَدًّا عَلَى جَدِّهِ؟

أ) لَاب) حَسَنًا يَا جَدِّيج) لَمْ يَقُلْ شَيْئًاد) رُبَّمَا

Reveal answers

1. أ — رَجُلًا صَالِحًا 2. أ — اقْرَأِ الْقُرْآنَ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ 3. ب — حَسَنًا يَا جَدِّي

SKILLS PRACTICE

الْكِتَابَةُWriting

On paper or in your notebook

Sentence building. Put these words in the correct order, then translate.

صَالِحًا رَجُلًا جَدِّي كَانَ
الْقُرْآنَ اقْرَأِ قَالَ
صَغِيرًا حِينَهَا كُنْتُ

Guided writing. Write two sentences using كَانَ to describe what someone was like, and two using قَالَ to report what they said.

06 — CHAPTER EXERCISES

التَّدْرِيبَاتُExercises

1اخْتَرِ الْإِجَابَةَ الصَّحِيحَةَChoose the correct answer

1. كَانَ changes the khabar of a nominal sentence to the:

a) nominativeb) accusativec) genitived) it stays the same

2. “I was” is:

a) كَانَb) كَانَتْc) كُنْتُd) كَانُوا

3. قَالَ means:

a) he wasb) he saidc) he readd) he wrote

4. قُلْتُ means:

a) he saidb) she saidc) I saidd) we said

Reveal answers

1. b 2. c 3. b 4. c

2صِلْ كُلَّ كَلِمَةٍ بِمَعْنَاهَاMatch each item to its meaning

كَانَ
كُنْتُ
قَالَ
قُلْتُ
كُنَّا

I said
we were
he was
I was
he said

Reveal answers

1–e, 2–d, 3–a, 4–b, 5–c

3تَرْجِمْ إِلَى الْإِنْجِلِيزِيَّةِTranslate into English

Self-check — type your answer, then compare with the model answer below. This one isn’t scored.

كَانَ الْبَيْتُ كَبِيرًا.
كُنْتُ صَغِيرًا.
قَالَ إِنَّهُ سَهْلٌ.
مَاذَا قُلْتَ؟

Reveal answers

1. The house was big.
2. I was young.
3. He said it's easy.
4. What did you say?

4تَرْجِمْ إِلَى الْعَرَبِيَّةِTranslate into Arabic

Self-check — type your answer, then compare with the model answer below. This one isn’t scored.

My grandfather was a righteous man.
He said: read the Qur'ān.
I was afraid, but now I'm at ease.

Reveal answers

١) كَانَ جَدِّي رَجُلًا صَالِحًا.
٢) قَالَ: اقْرَأِ الْقُرْآنَ.
٣) كُنْتُ خَائِفًا، لَكِنِّي الْآنَ مُطْمَئِنٌّ.

5أَكْمِلِ الْحِوَارَComplete the dialogue

Word bank: كَانَتْ — قَالَ — كُنْتُ — قُلْتُ

مريم: كَيْفَ مَدْرَسَتُكَ؟
يوسف: صَغِيرَةً وَهَادِئَةً.
مريم: وَمَاذَا أُسْتَاذُكَ؟
يوسف: إِنَّهُ سَهْلٌ. خَائِفًا لَكِنِّي مُطْمَئِنٌّ الْآنَ.

Reveal answers

كَانَتْ — كَانَتْ — قَالَ — قَالَ — كُنْتُ

6صَحِيحٌ أَمْ خَطَأٌ؟True or false? (based on the reading passage)

مَدْرَسَةُ يُوسُفَ كَانَتْ كَبِيرَةً وَصَاخِبَةً.true / false

الْأُسْتَاذُ قَالَ إِنَّ الِامْتِحَانَ سَهْلٌ.true / false

مَرْيَمُ كَانَتْ خَائِفَةً فِي الْبِدَايَةِ.true / false

Reveal answers

1. False — it was small and quiet. 2. True. 3. True.

SKILLS PRACTICE

قِرَاءَةٌ حُرَّةٌFree Reading

Hover to check — no test, just read

A short passage using only words you've met so far. Just read for meaning — hover any word if you get stuck. Flip the switch to check whole sentences instead of single words.

Word Sentence

كَانَ رَجُلٌ صَغِيرٌ فِي بَيْتِنَا. كَانَتْ أُخْتِي هَادِئَةً جِدًّا. قَالَ الرَّجُلُ كُلُّ شَيْءٍ حَسَنًا. قَالَتْ أُخْتِي الِامْتِحَانُ سَهْلٌ حَقًّا. كُنْتُ خَائِفًا مِنَ الِامْتِحَانِ. وَكُنْتَ هَادِئًا عَنِّي. كُنَّا طُلَّابًا صِغَارًا فِي هَذَا الْبَيْتِ.

SKILLS PRACTICE — NEW

مُحَادَثَةٌ حُرَّةٌConversation Practice

Chat with Yūsuf or Maryam using only what you've learned so far — type it or say it out loud, your choice.

تَمَّ الدَّرْسُ الْخَامِسَ عَشَرَ بِحَمْدِ اللَّهِ

Chapter Fifteen complete — next chapter: Laysa (ليس)

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