Inna and her sisters

Who are these sisters?
The main ones are لَكِنَّ (but), أَنَّ (that) and of course إِنَّ herself.

إِنَّ does not really have a translation, but is just a way of starting a sentence that somehow places some emphasis to what you are about to say.

لَكِنَّ (but) and أَنَّ (that) are two very useful and common particles which are used to introduce a subordinate clause. See below for some examples, but first what difference do they make to the grammar?


Life without inna
In a nominal sentence (with no verb), and without inna, the subject (مُبْتَدَأ) and predicate/description (خَبَر) are both nominative with a damma (مرفوع). Eg:

الولدُ طويلٌ
al-waladu Taweelun
the boy (nom) - tall (nom)

In a verbal sentence without inna, the subject (فاعل) is nominative with a damma (مرفوع بالضمة) and the predicate/object (مفعول به) is accusative with a fatha (منصوب بالفتحة). Eg:

الولدُ يأكلُ التفاحَ
al-waladu yakalu al-tufaaHa
the boy (nom) eats the apple (acc)


Things are very different when inna or one of her sisters is involved: the subject is in the accusative!

In a nominal sentence, إِنَّ is followed by the subject (مُبْتَدَأ - either a noun or pronominal suffix) in the accusative (منصوب بالفتحة), and after this comes the predicate/object (خَبَر) in the nominative (مرفوع بالضمة). Eg:

إِنَّ الولدَ طويلٌ
inna al-walada Taweelun
the boy (acc) - tall (nom)

And in a verbal sentence, إِنَّ is followed by the subject (مُبْتَدَأ) in accusative, then the verb, then the predicate/object (خَبَر) in the accusative.

إِنَّ الولدَ يأكلُ التفاحَ
inna al-walada yakulu al-tufaaha
the boy (acc) eats the apple (acc)


This can be very baffling for native speakers of Indo-European languages, but if you're doing A Level Arabic, you'll have to get to grips with it! Here's some more examples...

أَنَّ - that

أعتقد أَنَّ اللغةَ العربيّةَ جميلةٌ
a'taqid anna al-lughata al-'arabiyyata jameelatun
I believe that the Arabic language (is) beautiful


لَكِنَّ - but
Some more examples coming shortly


Adding pronouns on
All these particles can have pronouns added on as suffixes, eg.
أَنَّه
إِنَّها
ولَكِنَّهما

Don't confuse with...
إِنْ - if. This is followed by jussive or the perfect tense - see here for more details

أَنْ - that. This is used to introduce a subordinate clauses in two situations:
* when a past/perfect tense clause follows - see here for more details
* after verbs expressing hope, fear, intention, command or necessity, when it is followed by a subjunctive verb - see here more details