كان نفسي اشوف الرسام.

I had wanted to see the illustrator.

Breakdown of كان نفسي اشوف الرسام.

• يشوف: to see
• كان نفسي: I had wanted to
• الرسام: the illustrator

Questions & Answers about كان نفسي اشوف الرسام.

How do you pronounce كان نفسي اشوف الرسام?

A common Egyptian pronunciation is:

kān nafsi ashoof er-rassām

Roughly:

• kān = like kaan
• nafsi = NAF-see
• ashoof = a-SHOOF
• er-rassām = er-ras-SAAM

The stress is usually on:

• NAF in nafsi
• SHOOF in ashoof
• SAAM in rassām

What does كان نفسي mean here?

In Egyptian Arabic, نفسي can mean I want / I feel like when followed by a verb.

So:

• نفسي اشوف الرسام = I want to see the painter
• كان نفسي اشوف الرسام = I wanted to see the painter / I wish I could have seen the painter

Literally, نفسي comes from self / soul, so the expression has the sense of it was my wish/desire.

Why is it كان and not كنت if the meaning is I wanted?