Inna And Kaana

Both إنّ and كَانَ can appear before a جملة إسمية and modify the meaning of the sentence. We will take a look at إنّ first.

إنّ

إِنَّ is a حرف, and it is a powerful word that conveys a sense of certainty and emphasis. When used at the beginning of a sentence, it signals that what follows is a statement of truth or a fact that cannot be doubted. It adds weight and emphasis to the information being conveyed. For example, in the sentence إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ (Indeed, Allah is Forgiving, Merciful), the word إِنَّ emphasizes and confirms the truth that Allah is indeed forgiving and merciful. It serves to draw attention and highlight the importance of the statement. So, when you encounter إِنَّ in the Quran or in Arabic texts, pay close attention to the message being conveyed and understand that it signifies certainty and emphasis.

In terms of grammar, إنّ enters a جملة إسمية (Nominal Sentence). Remember that a جملة إسمية consists of two parts, a مبتدأ and a خبر, both of which are مرفوع.

إنّ takes the مبتدأ and makes it منصوب. We then give what used to be the مبتدأ a special name, and we call it اسم إن (Ism Inna). Similarly, إنّ takes the خبر and makes it مرفوع, and we call it the خبر إن (Khabr Inna).

Let's take a look at النَّاسُ أُمَّةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ (The people are one nation). النَّاسُ is مرفوع because it's the مبتدأ, أُمَّةٌ is مرفوع because it is the خبر.

Enter إِنَّ النَّاسَ أُمَّةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ → إنّ (No doubt, the people are one nation). Notice how النَّاسُ became النَّاسَ. That's because of the إنّ which takes the مبتدأ and makes it منصوب. The word النَّاسَ is no longer called مبتدأ and is instead now called اسم إن. The word أُمَّةٌ is now called the خبر إن. Notice how its vowel ending did not change though. خبر إن needs to be مرفوع, but أُمَّةٌ was already مرفوع because it used to be the خبر and so no vowel change was required.

كَانَ

كَانَ is a verb that shares similarities with إنّ in that it can enter a جملة إسمية and modify the sentence. The word كَانَ has many meanings, but they all share one thing in common, which is to take the meaning of whatever it is attached to and take that meaning to the past.

Let's look at our previous example النَّاسُ أُمَّةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ (The people are one nation). When we add كَانَ to it, we get كَانَ النَّاسُ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً (The people were one nation). So it took the meaning into the past.

Also, look at what happened to the مبتدأ and خبر. The مبتدأ remained مرفوع, but أُمَّةً, which was the خبر, became منصوب. It is the opposite of the إنّ example. And like إنّ, we now take the مبتدأ and call it the اسم كان (Ism Kaana), and we take the خبر and call it the خبر كان (Khabr Kaana).