Nahw · syntaxParticle typecore term
Also written: Inna wa Akhawatuha · Inna · Huruf Mushabbahah · Inna and her sisters
In one line
The verb-like particles — إِنَّ and her five sisters, which put the subject into nasb.
Classical rule
وَأَمَّا إِنَّ وَأَخَوَاتُهَا فَإِنَّهَا تَنْصِبُ الِاسْمَ وَتَرْفَعُ الْخَبَرَ، وَهِيَ: إِنَّ، وَأَنَّ، وَلَكِنَّ، وَكَأَنَّ، وَلَيْتَ، وَلَعَلَّ.
“As for inna and her sisters, they put the noun into nasb and keep the predicate in raf'; they are: inna (indeed), anna (that), lakinna (but), ka'anna (as if), layta (if only), la'alla (perhaps).”
(الآجرّومية)
Key words in the Arabic
لَيْتَif only — wishing
لَعَلَّperhaps, in hope
كَأَنَّas if — likening
Understand it
Six particles that behave like verbs: doubled endings, verb-like meanings (assert, wish, hope), and a verb's power to govern — hence the classical name “resembling the verb”. Each recolours the whole sentence: إِنَّ insists, لَيْتَ longs, لَعَلَّ hopes. Spot one, and you know the next noun is in nasb before you read it. إِنَّ alone appears 1,682 times in the Quran; the family together, over 2,200.
How to spot it
Recognition test
A doubled-nun particle (ـنَّ) opening a nominal sentence, first noun in nasb — one of the six.
In the Qur'an
إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
Al-Baqarah 2:20 — “Indeed, Allah is over all things competent”
اللَّهَ is the ism of inna (nasb); the khabar قَدِيرٌ keeps raf', with the jarr phrase عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ between them.
Forms it takes
إِنَّأَنَّكَأَنَّلَكِنَّلَيْتَلَعَلَّ
Related terms
▶ Watch the lessons
From the free course The Language of Quran — Easier than English (Book 1) (LoQ1), taught by Ustad Muhammad Arjan Ali.
Common questions
What is the difference between إِنَّ and أَنَّ?
إِنَّ opens a statement (“indeed…”); أَنَّ embeds one inside another sentence (“…that…”). Grammatically they behave identically — ism in nasb, khabar in raf'.
Does لَعَلَّ always mean “perhaps”?
In the Quran لَعَلَّ frequently expresses purpose or hope — لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ is closer to “so that you may attain taqwa” than to a doubtful “maybe”. Context decides.
Domain: Nahw · Category: Particle type · Frequency in the Qur'an: 0 · Source: الآجرّومية, cross-checked against the Quranic corpus · Reviewed by Ustad M. Arjan Ali