Grammar term · Nahw · syntax
خَبَر كَانَ
khabar kana
Predicate of kana & sisters
Nahw · syntaxSyntactic rolecore term1,244+ in the Qur'an
Also written: Kana wa Akhawatuha · Kana · Defective verbs
In one line
The predicate of kana and her sisters — put into nasb by the verb.
Classical rule
كَانَ وَأَخَوَاتُهَا تَرْفَعُ الاسْمَ وَتَنْصِبُ الخَبَرَ.
“Kana and her sisters keep the noun in raf' and put the predicate into nasb.”
(الآجرّومية)
Understand it
The khabar of kana is where the family shows its power: the predicate that would rest in raf' takes nasb instead. كَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا — the fatha on غَفُورًا is كَانَ's signature. Meet a nominal sentence whose second half is unexpectedly in nasb, and one of this family is standing at its door.
How to spot it
Recognition test
After كان and her sisters, the predicate that takes nasb is the khabar kana.
In the Qur'an
وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا
Al-Ahzab 33:73 — “And Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful”
غَفُورًا is the khabar of كان, in nasb.
Related terms
فَاعِل · fa'il
مُضَاف · mudaf
مُضَاف إِلَيْه · mudaf ilayh
مَفْعُول بِهِ · maf'ul bih
لَيْسَ · laysa
Common questions
Does كَانَ always mean past tense?
No. With Allah's attributes — وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا — it expresses timeless, established reality: ever Forgiving, not “was once”. Recognising the ism (raf') and khabar (nasb) makes these constructions transparent.