Did not have

السلام عليكم -- I am afraid that this is a real beginner's question, but hope for your patience...

I understand that in a sentence such as "Tim a car" the emphasised phrase may be translated using لم with the jussive يكن.

But, if you use the past tense of كان, what word is used to make it negative ? I have seen لا، but as the verb is in the past tense I thought that ما was required.

Hi,

Allow me to remind you again that you should search for the answer before opening a new thread (as per the forum rule # 1)
There's a thread with the title "I didn't have / I will have" that answers your question. There's also the thread "I did not have enough money" and "We didn't have enough time". I hope they will all be helpful to you.

Regards,
Cherine
Moderator