إن

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See also: ان, آن, أن, اَنْ, -ان, and ان-

Arabic

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-West Semitic *him, from Proto-Semitic *šim.

Pronunciation

Conjunction

إِن (ʔin)

  1. (conditional) if (possible, not contrary to fact)
    إِنْ تَدْرُسْ تَنْجَحْ
    ʔin tadrus tanjaḥ
    If you study you (will) succeed.
    إِنْ لَا تَدْرُسْ لَا تَنْجَحْ
    ʔin lā tadrus lā tanjaḥ
    If you do not study you (will) not succeed.
    اَلْمَرْءُ مَقْتُولٌ بِمَا قَتَلَ بِهِ: إِنْ سَيْفًا فَسَيْفٌ، وَإِنْ خِنْجَرًا فَخِنْجَرٌ.
    al-marʔu maqtūlun bimā qatala bihi: ʔin sayfan fasayfun, waʔin ḵinjaran faḵinjarun.
    A person is killed by what they are killed with, whether it's a sword, it's a sword, and if it's a dagger, it's a dagger.
    اَلنَّاسُ مَجْزِيُّونَ بِأَعَمَالِهِمْ: إِنْ خَيْرًا فَخَيْرٌ، وَإنْ شَرًّا فَشَرٌّ.
    an-nāsu majziyyūna biʔaʕamālihim: ʔin ḵayran faḵayrun, waʔin šarran fašarrun.
    People are rewarded for their deeds, if it's good, it's good, and if it's evil, it's evil.
    • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 2:111:
      هَاتُوا بُرْهَانَكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ
      hātū burhānakum ʔin kuntum ṣādiqīna
      Give your proof, if you are truthful.
Usage notes

Normally for conditions that are capable of being fulfilled. For contrary-to-fact conditions, use لَوْ (law). Used with the past tense or the jussive, in both cases with a present-tense meaning.

Synonyms
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Cognate to Hebrew הִנֵּה (lo, behold).

Pronunciation

Particle

إِنَّ (ʔinna)

  1. indeed, an emphasizing sentence particle, usually untranslated
    إِنِّي فَقِيرٌ وَلَا أَجِدُ طَعَامًا أُطْعِمُ أَوْلَادِي وَعَائِلَتِي، فَسَاعِدْنِي.
    ʔinnī faqīrun wa-lā ʔajidu ṭaʕāman ʔuṭʕimu ʔawlādī wa-ʕāʔilatī, fa-sāʕidnī.
    Indeed, I am poor and can't find food to feed my children and my family, so please help me.
Usage notes
  • The subject of a clause containing إِنَّ (ʔinna) takes the accusative case, personal pronouns take enclitic forms.
  • When إِنَّ (ʔinna) is followed by the first person singular enclitic ـِي (, my, me), it produces forms إِنِّي (ʔinnī) or إِنَّنِي (ʔinnanī). When it is followed by the first person plural enclitic نَا (, our, us), it produces forms إِنَّا (ʔinnā) or إِنَّنَا (ʔinnanā).
Inflection
    Inflected forms
Base form إِنَّ (ʔinna)
Personal-pronoun-
including forms
Singular Dual Plural
Masculine Feminine Common Masculine Feminine
First person إِنِّي / إِنَّنِي (ʔinnī / ʔinnanī) إِنَّنَا / إِنَّا (ʔinnanā / ʔinnā)
Second person إِنَّكَ (ʔinnaka) إِنَّكِ (ʔinnaki) إِنَّكُمَا (ʔinnakumā) إِنَّكُمْ (ʔinnakum) إِنَّكُنَّ (ʔinnakunna)
Third person إِنَّهُ (ʔinnahu) إِنَّهَا (ʔinnahā) إِنَّهُمَا (ʔinnahumā) إِنَّهُمْ (ʔinnahum) إِنَّهُنَّ (ʔinnahunna)
Derived terms
See also

Etymology 3

Cognate to Hebrew אין (ein).

Pronunciation

Particle

إِنْ (ʔin)

  1. (archaic) not
    • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 67:20:
      إِنِ الْكَافِرُونَ إِلَّا فِي غُرُورٍ
      ʔini al-kāfirūna ʔillā fī ḡurūrin
      the disbelievers are not but in delusion
    • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 4:62:
      إِنْ أَرَدْنَا إِلَّا إِحْسَانًا وَتَوْفِيقًا
      ʔin ʔaradnā ʔillā ʔiḥsānan wa-tawfīqan
      we intended nothing but good conduct and accommodation
    • a. 869, Al-Jāḥiẓ, “طرف أهل خراسان”, in البخلاء:
      لَا وَٱللّٰهِ، إِنْ أَهْلَكَ النَّاسَ وَلَا أَقْفَرَ بُيُوتَهُمْ وَلَا تَرَكَ دُورَهُمْ بَلَاقِعَ إِلَّا الْإِيمَانُ بِٱلْخَلَفِ
      lā wal-lāhi, ʔin ʔahlaka n-nāsa walā ʔaqfara buyūtahum walā taraka dūrahum balāqiʕa ʔillā l-ʔīmānu bi-l-ḵalafi
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Synonyms

References

  1. ^ Lipiński, Edward (2001) Semitic Languages: Outline of a Comparative Grammar (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta; 80) (in English), 2nd edition, Leuven: Peeters, →ISBN, page 482:
    One of the oldest and most important presentatives is *han, attested in Palaeosyrian and in Old Akkadian en-ma, later umma by assimilation. It is found in Ugaritic (hn), in Old Canaanite (a-nu, a-nu-ú, an-nu, an-nu-ú), in Hebrew (hinnē), in Arabic (ʾinna), In Ge'ez (ʾən-ka); e.g. Arabic ʾinna llāha ʾalā kulli šayʾin qadīrun, "behold, God has power over everything". It should be identified with the West Semitic article han-, but carefully distinguished from the conditional particle hnʾn.
  2. ^ Hetzron, Robert (1997) The Semitic Languages, page 201: The particle ʾinna, etymologically cognate to Hebrew hen, hinne: "behold", emphasizes that the speaker's utterance is true.

Egyptian Arabic

Etymology 1

From Arabic إن (ʔin).

Conjunction

إن (ʔin)

  1. if
    إن قلت أه نبقى موافقين
    ʔin ʔult ʔāh nibʔa mwafʔīn
    If you say yes, we're agreed.
    إن كان كويس ولا وحش
    ʔin kān kuwayyis walla wiḥiš
    Whether it be good or bad.
See also

Etymology 2

From Arabic أَنَّ (ʔanna).

Conjunction

إن (ʔinn)

  1. that
    واضح إنه بيحبك
    wāḍiḥ ʔinnu biyḥibbik
    It's obvious that that he loves you.
    بيصرف مال كإنه غني
    biyiṣrif māl ka-ʔinnu ḡani
    He spends money as if he were rich.

South Levantine Arabic

Etymology 1

From Arabic إن (ʔin).

Conjunction

إن (ʔin)

  1. if (followed by a past tense verb)
    Synonyms: إذا (ʔiza), إنكنّـ (ʔin-kann-)
    إن جيت بكرة، جيبلي معك جاكيت.
    ʔin jīt bukra jīb-li maʕak jākēt
    If you come tomorrow, bring me a jacket.
    (literally, “If you come tomorrow, bring for me a jacket with you.”)
Usage notes
  • إن (ʔin) is always followed by a verb in the past tense, even if refer to an action in the future.
See also
  • لو (law, if (hypothetical)), لونـ (lawenn-, if (hypothetical))

Etymology 2

From Arabic أَنَّ (ʔanna).

Pronunciation

See إنّه (ʔinno).

Conjunction

إنّـ (ʔinn-)

  1. that (followed by a suffix pronoun)
    Invariable form: إنّه (ʔinno)
Usage notes
  • This preposition can be either used invariable in the form إنّه (ʔinno) or with an attached suffix pronoun.
  • The suffix pronoun agrees with the subject of the subordinate clause.
Inflection
    Inflected forms of إن
Base form إنّـ (ʔinn-)
Personal-pronoun-
including forms
singular plural
m f
1st person إنّي (ʔinni) إنّا (ʔinna)
2nd person إنّك (ʔinnak) إنّك (ʔinnek) إنكم (ʔinkom)
3rd person إنّه (ʔinno) إنها (ʔinha) إنهم (ʔinhom)
Derived terms