Arabic

Conjunction

لٰكِنَّ • ‎(lākinna)

1. but, however

Inflection

Usage notes

• لٰكِنَّ ‎(lākinna) functions like إِنَّ ‎(ʾinna) and أَنَّ ‎(ʾanna), shifting the subject of the subordinate clause to the accusative case. The subject of the subordinate clause must immediately follow لٰكِنَّ ‎(lākinna); if it is a pronoun, it must be expressed. Contrast this syntactic function and the following examples with لٰكِنْ ‎(lākin) below.

  لٰكِنَّ الرَّئِيسَ كَانَ أَذْكَى مِمَّا تَوَقَّعَ النَّاس‎

  lākinna r-raʾīsa kāna ʾaḏkā mimmā tawaqqaʿa n-nās

  but the president was smarter than people expected

  لٰكِنَّهُ كَانَ أَذْكَى مِمَّا تَوَقَّعَ النَّاس‎

  lākinnahu kāna ʾaḏkā mimmā tawaqqaʿa n-nās

  but he was smarter than people expected

See also

• (ʾinna and her sisters) إِنَّ وَأَخَوَاتُهَا ‎(ʾinna waʾaḵawātuhā); إِنَّ ‎(ʾinna), أَنَّ ‎(ʾanna), لٰكِنَّ ‎(lākinna), لِأَنَّ ‎(liʾanna), لَعَلَّ ‎(laʿalla) لَيْتَ ‎(layta) ^{(Category: ar:sisters of ʾinna)}

Pronunciation 2

Conjunction

لٰكِنْ • ‎(lākin)

1. but, however

Usage notes

• لٰكِنْ ‎(lākin) acts as a simple conjunction, with the subject of the subordinate clause in the nominative; the subject may follow immediately or be delayed. If it is a pronoun, it may be omitted. Contrast this syntactic function and the following examples with لٰكِنَّ ‎(lākinna) above.

  لٰكِنِ الرَّئِيسُ كَانَ أَذْكَى مِمَّا تَوَقَّعَ النَّاس‎

  lākini r-raʾīsu kāna ʾaḏkā mimmā tawaqqaʿa n-nās

  but the president was smarter than people expected

  لٰكِنْ (هُوَ) كَانَ أَذْكَى مِمَّا تَوَقَّعَ النَّاس‎

  lākin (huwa) kāna ʾaḏkā mimmā tawaqqaʿa n-nās

  but he was smarter than people expected

• لٰكِنْ ‎(lākin) is generally preceded in writing by وَ- ‎(wa-, “and”): see وَلٰكِنْ ‎(wa-lākin)