If you look carefully at these sentences, you will see that were (past form, plural, of the verb be) has different Arabic equivalents.
| (naHnu) kunna fi-l-madeena. | We were in town. |
| hal kuntum (antum) fi-l-madeena? | Were you (male) in town? |
| hal kuntunna (antunna) fi-l-madeena? | Were you (female) in town? |
| (hum) kaanuu fi-l-madeena. | They (male) were in town. |
| (hunna) kunna fi-l-madeena. | They (female) were in town. |
Remember: When addressing a female, you need a different form than for a male.
In the table below you can see all the forms for the plural:
| naHnu kunna | we were |
| antum kuntum | you (male) were |
| antunna kuntunna | you (female) were |
| hum kaanuu | they (male) were |
| hunna kunna | they (female) were |
Now look at the table below with the Arabic words for ‘son’, ‘daughter’, ‘car’ and ‘airport’. They are in two group: persons and things.
| persons | things | ||
| singular forms | plural forms | singular forms | plural forms |
| waladhum | awlaadhum | as-sayyaara | as-sayyaaraat |
| binthum | banaathum | al-maTaar | al-maTaaraat |
Now look at these sentences below, which focus on the forms of kaana and the forms of the adjective ‘Sagheer’ (little or small).
| awlaadhum kaanuu Sighaar. | Their sons were small. |
| banaathum kunna Sagheeraat. | Their daughters were small. |
| al-maTaaraat kaanat Sagheera. | The airports were small. |
| hal kaanat as-sayyaaraat Sagheera? | Were the cars small? |
As you can see, in sentences with persons (plural forms) as subjects, the plural forms kaanuu / kunna and the plural forms of the adjective (here: Sighaar/Sagheeraat) must be used.
In sentences with things (plural forms) as subjects, only the female singular form kaanat and the singular form of the adjective (here: Sagheera) must be used.
| (naHnu) maa kunna fi-l-madeena. | We were not in town. |
| hal maa kuntum (antum) fi-l-madeena? | Were you (male) not in town? |
| hal maa kuntunna (antunna) fi-l-madeena? | Were you (female) not in town? |
| (hum) maa kaanuu fi-l-madeena. | They (male) were not in town. |
| (hunna) maa kunna fi-l-madeena. | They (female) were not in town. |
Note:
For negative sentences about things (plural form) as subjects, you also only use the female singular form kaanat and the singular form of the adjective (here: Sagheera).
| al-maTaaraat maa kaanat Sagheera. | The airports were not small. |
| hal maa kaanat as-sayyaaraat Sagheera? | Weren’t the cars small? |
| naHnu maa kunna | we are not |
| antum maa kuntum | you (male) are not |
| antunna maa kuntunna | you (female) are not |
| hum maa kaanuu | they (male) are not |
| hunna maa kunna | they (female) are not |
