Kāna with the Imperfect

كَانَ جَدِّي يَأْكُلُ الْفُطُورَ فِي الْحَوْشِ كُلَّ صَبَاحٍ.

kāna jaddī yaʾkulu l-fuṭūra fi l-ḥawshi kulla ṣabāḥin

My grandfather used to eat breakfast in the courtyard every morning.

كَانَتْ أُمِّي تَخْبِزُ الْخُبْزَ فِي الْفُرْنِ مَرَّتَيْنِ فِي الْأُسْبُوعِ.

kānat ummī takhbizu l-khubza fi l-furni marratayni fi l-usbūʿi

My mother used to bake bread in the oven twice a week.

Both verbs are feminine.

كُنَّا نَصْعَدُ إِلَى السَّطْحِ وَنَنَامُ هُنَاكَ فِي الصَّيْفِ.

kunnā naṣʿadu ila s-saṭḥi wa-nanāmu hunāka fi ṣ-ṣayfi

We used to go up to the roof and sleep there in summer.

One كَانَ serves two imperfects joined by وَ.

كَانَ الْجِيرَانُ يَأْخُذُونَ الْمَاءَ مِنْ بِئْرِنَا.

kāna l-jīrānu yaʾkhudhūna l-māʾa min biʾrinā

The neighbours used to take water from our well.

كَانَ stays singular before the noun subject; the imperfect is plural.

كُنْتِ تَسْأَلِينَ عَنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَأَنْتِ صَغِيرَةٌ.

kunti tasʾalīna ʿan kulli shayʾin wa-anti ṣaghīratun

You (f.) used to ask about everything when you were little.

لَمَّا دَخَلْتُ كَانَ أَبِي يَقْرَأُ الْجَرِيدَةَ عِنْدَ الْمِدْفَأَةِ.

lammā dakhaltu kāna abī yaqraʾu l-jarīdata ʿinda l-midfaʾati

When I came in, my father was reading the newspaper by the heater.

بَيْنَمَا كُنَّا نَأْكُلُ دَقَّ أَحَدٌ الْبَابَ.

baynamā kunnā naʾkulu daqqa aḥaduni l-bāba

While we were eating, someone knocked at the door.

كَانَتِ الْخَادِمَةُ تَمْلَأُ الْكُؤُوسَ عِنْدَمَا وَصَلَ الضُّيُوفُ.

kānati l-khādimatu tamlaʾu l-kuʾūsa ʿindamā waṣala ḍ-ḍuyūfu

The maid was filling the glasses when the guests arrived.

فِي تِلْكَ السَّاعَةِ كَانَ الْأَوْلَادُ يَلْعَبُونَ فِي الْحَوْشِ.

fī tilka s-sāʿati kāna l-awlādu yalʿabūna fi l-ḥawshi

At that hour the children were playing in the courtyard.

لَمْ نَكُنْ نَمْلِكُ تِلْفَازًا، وَمَا كُنَّا نَشْعُرُ بِحَاجَةٍ إِلَيْهِ.

lam nakun namliku tilfāzan, wa-mā kunnā nashʿuru bi-ḥājatin ilayhi

We did not own a television, and we did not feel any need of one.

Two ways of negating; لَمْ يَكُنْ is the commoner in writing.

كَانَتْ جَدَّتِي لَا تَأْكُلُ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَأْكُلَ الْأَطْفَالُ.

kānat jaddatī lā taʾkulu qabla an yaʾkula l-aṭfālu

My grandmother would never eat before the children had eaten.

مَا زَالَ أَبِي يَقْرَأُ بِغَيْرِ نَظَّارَةٍ.

mā zāla abī yaqraʾu bi-ghayri naẓẓāratin

My father still reads without glasses.

أَصْبَحَ النَّاسُ يَسْكُنُونَ فِي شُقَقٍ صَغِيرَةٍ بَدَلًا مِنَ الْبُيُوتِ الْوَاسِعَةِ.

aṣbaḥa n-nāsu yaskunūna fī shuqaqin ṣaghīratin badalan mina l-buyūti l-wāsiʿati

People have taken to living in small flats instead of spacious houses.

ظَلَّتِ الْمِدْفَأَةُ تَعْمَلُ حَتَّى الصَّبَاحِ.

ẓallati l-midfaʾatu taʿmalu ḥatta ṣ-ṣabāḥi

The heater kept working until morning.