The particle inna (ان) is known as an accusative particle (حرف نصب) because of its effect on the case ending of its subject. Like the verb kāna (كان), an accusative particle will take a subject and a predicate although with different case endings. Because of this similarity, these particles are considered to be verb-like (حرف مشبه بالفعل). Figure below 1 lists the group of accusative particles known as inna and her sisters (ان واخواتها).
| Accusative Particle | Arabic | Translation* |
| inna | إِنَّ | indeed |
| anna | أَنَّ | that |
| laʿalla | لَعَلَّ | so that |
| lākinna | لٰكِنَّ | but |
| ka-anna | كَأَنَّ | as if |
| layta | لَيْتَ | wish |
Fig 1. The accusative particle inna and related particles.
* precise meaning depends on context (see translation accuracy).
An accusative particle accepts a subject and a predicate through dependencies called ism inna (اسم ان) and khabar inna (خبر ان). The subject ism inna is always in the accusative case manṣūb (منصوب), and the predicate khabar inna is always in the nominative case marfūʿ (مرفوع). The dependency graph for verse (100:6) below shows links for ism inna and khabar inna, with an accusative subject:
| (100:6:4) lakanūdun (is) surely ungrateful. | (100:6:3) lirabbihi to his Lord, | (100:6:2) l-insāna mankind, | (100:6:1) inna Indeed, |
Fig 2. The particle inna in verse (100:6).
Negative Particles Acting Like anna
The negative particle lā (لا) can behave like the accusative particle anna (أن). In this construction, the negative particle lā will take a subject and predicate, with the subject in the accusative case manṣūb (منصوب), An example may be found in verse (75:11):
| (75:11:3) wazara refuge. | (75:11:2) lā (There is) no | (75:11:1) kallā By no means! |
Fig 3. The particle mā in verse (75:11) with its accusative subject.
Preventive Particles
The preventive particle mā (ما) may come after an accusative particle to form a compound known as kāfa wa makfūfa (كافة ومكفوفة). In this construction, the accusative particle is prevented from modifying any case endings in the sentence. An example may be found in verse (79:13):
| (79:13:4) wāḥidatun single, | (79:13:3) zajratun (will be) a shout | (79:13:2) hiya it | (79:13:1) fa-innamā Then only |
Fig 4. Preventive mā in verse (79:13).