منى: لو كنت احترفت في فريق اوروبي كبير كان حياتك اتغيرت مجدي: جدا منى: كان ايه اللي هيتغير في حياتك مجدي: كان ممكن مارجعش مصر
Mona:If you had play professionally for a big European team, would your life have changed? Magdi: very much. Mona: What would have changed in your life? Magdi: It's possible I would not have returned to Egypt. (مصارحة حرة مع مجدي عبد الغني)
In English, the then-clauses of these sentences could be translated using 'would'. For example, the then-clause of Sentence 2 could read 'we would not have met, we would not have got married...' However they are translated the way they are to draw your attention to the difference between them and the كان + past tense then-clauses.
In كان + future tense then-clauses, the speakers' perspective is from the moment the hypothetical past event occured; therefore, they are looking ahead at what they would have done in the future. This is in contrast to then-clauses that use كان and a past tense verb. In these sentences, the speakers' perspective is the present looking back at what they would have done.
Section 2: Hypothetical Conditional with كان زمان
In the previous two sections we have seen that one way to express the idea of a hypothetical conditional statement is to use لو followed by a conjugation of كان and a past tense verb. The then-clauses were formed by using a conjugation of كان and then depending on the perspective of the speaker either a past tense verb or a present tense verb.
Another common element in the creation of hypothetical conditional statements is the use of كان زمان. As you will see in the following sentences, use of this element can allow speakers to express a hypothetical conditional without having to use كان + past tense verb after لو.
If the subject of the sentence following كان زمان is a pronoun, then the subject is represented as a suffix on زمان. Therefore, you can see كان زمان as:
كان زمانهاكان زمانهكان زمانكوكان زماناكان زمانككان زمانيكان زمانهم
Notice how زمان is always preceded by كان even when the hypothetical event being described is in the present. كان is conjugated to agree with زمان and for this reason it does not change.
Examples
لو كنت عملت .....كان زمان
Example 1 past perfect with كان زمان
طبعا لو مكانتش كدبتك دي اتفضحتكان زماني نايم على وداني ولا داريان بحاجة
Of course, if your lie had not been exposed, I would have been completely oblivious (sleeping on my ears) not aware of anything! (تيمور وشفيقة)
ساعات كده بقعد أفكّر مع نفسي وأقول لو مكانش حصل اللي حصل لو مكانش سابنا وأنا لسة عيلة ماكملتش حتى عشر سنين كان زماني دلوقتي بنت الدكتور صبحي ابو فاضل اشهر دكتور في المنصورة كلها. اكيد كانت حياتي كلها اتغيّرت
Sometimes I sit and talk with myself (think with myself) and say "If that which happened hadn't have happened, if he had not left us when I was still a little girl: I had not even completed ten years (was not even ten years old), I would have been the daughter of Doctor Subhi Abu Fadil, the most famous doctor in all of Mansoura. Certainly, my entire life would have changed (العراف)
يا افندم أنا شايف كراتين المخدرات بعينيا ولو معايا سلاح واذن من النيابة كان زماني قابض عليهم متلبسين
Sir, I saw crates of drugs with my eyes and if I had had a weapon and permission from the district attorney, I would have caught them in the act. (الباشا تلميذ)
لو حد تاني كان زمانهم حفرتين في الصحرا مش حفرة واحدة
If (you had been) some else, there would have been two holes in the desert not just one. (بدل فاقد)
كان زمان & present hypothetical
In English, the past hypothetical-conditional clause is usually expressed with 'had verbed' and the present hypothetical with 'were to verb'. Compare the difference between 'if I had seen you' and 'if I were to see you.' The distinction in Egyptian is less stark as it is in English, but the context usually disambiguates the two. Below, Example 9 could easily be translated as "if this wouldn't have been my life..." but in English it feels more natural to say 'if this weren't my life'. Therefore, watch out for sentences like Examples 9-10 understanding that although they may look like past hypotheticals they are best understood as being in the present.
Example 9 present hypothetical with كان زمان
يا ما (لو)* مكانش ده حالي كان زمان بلطجية المنطقة خدوا المحل وانتي مقتولة والعيال اخواتي دول انحرفوا
Mom, (if) this weren't how my life was, the thugs in the neighborhood would have taken over the shop and you would be murdered and my siblings over there would have strayed from God's path. (الفرح)
*Here لو is implied. To see other examples where this happens see the page for implied لو.
جميل انت والله يا خالي كل حاجة عندك تمشي بالمحبة والمودة لو الدنيا كلها ماشية كده كان زمانا عايشين في جنة
I swear uncle, you are sweet. Everything with you moves along with love and affection (Everything can be solved with love and affection with you). If the entire world were to functıon like that we would be living in paradise. (لعبة ابليس)
Section 3: Other uses of past perfect conditional statement
In this section we will leave behind our discussion about hypothetical conditionals and كان زمان in order to present two other funtions of لو + the past perfect. This structure can be used to express doubt that an action has in fact taken place. It can also be used as part of an apology.
In Example 1 لو + past perfect is used to express doubt about an event actually happening. In Example 2, لو + past perfect is used to respond to an accusation in an attempt cast doubt on its varacity.
doubt and لو كنت عملت
Example 1 expressing doubt
ده انت عامل خسارة عشرين الف جنية ده غير البضاعة اللي باظت في المخازن ده لو كانت باظت فعلا
You caused a loss of 20,000 pounds (EGP), that's not including the merchandise that went bad in the warehouse, that's if it really did go bad. (العار)
لو + past perfect can also be used in apology expressions. Examples 3 and 4 are similar to the way English speakers use 'if' with apologies except that in Egyptian the verb in the conditional clause is in the past perfect. Example 5 shows that this same structure is also used with words other than 'آسف / آسفة' to express a similar meaning.
Example 3 apology
واسف لو كنت ضيعت وقتك
...and I am sorry if I have wasted your time. (الدالي)
Just by way of context, in Example 5, حسام did get mad at شاهيندا there is no doubt about that. In a previous scene they had been talking, she said something that upset him. He corrected her with a few stern words and then got up and walked away. The clause after لو does not express a hypothetical event.