bet kas / bet koks

Anyone at All with Bet

Level 4

Put bet before a question word to mean any at all: bet kas (anyone, anything), bet koks (any kind), bet kada (any time).

How It Works

1. The set.

  • bet kas: anyone, anything
  • bet koks, bet kokia: any kind of
  • bet kuris, bet kuri: any one of them
  • bet kur: anywhere
  • bet kada: any time
  • bet kaip: in any way, or carelessly

2. Case. With a pronoun, only that pronoun changes; kur, kada and kaip do not decline. Use the case that the verb or preposition needs, as with kas: Paklausk bet ko. (Ask anyone.) Gali sėsti prie bet kurio stalo. (You can sit at any table.) Koks and kuris also agree with their noun: bet kokia knyga (any book).

3. Bet kas or kas nors? Kas nors means some person or thing that is not named, and it is typical in questions: Ar kas nors skambino? (Did anyone call?) Bet kas stresses that the choice does not matter: Paskambink bet kam. (Call anyone, it does not matter who.)

4. Not just anyone. With a negative verb or with ne, these words mean not just any: Šito nepasakosiu bet kam. (I won't tell this to just anyone.) Jis ne bet kas. (He is not just anybody.) Nedaryk bet kaip. (Don't do it carelessly.) For nobody and nothing, use niekas with ne-: Nieko nemačiau. (I didn't see anything.)

Examples (6)

  1. Bet kas gali ateiti.

    Anyone can come.

    Bet kas means anyone at all.

  2. Paskambink bet kada.

    Call any time.

    Bet kada means at any time at all.

  3. Galite sėsti bet kur.

    You can sit anywhere.

    Bet kur means in any place.

  4. Bet koks atsakymas geresnis už tylą.

    Any answer is better than silence.

    Bet koks agrees with the masculine noun atsakymas.

  5. Paklausk bet ko – visi žino, kur stotis.

    Ask anyone; everyone knows where the station is.

    Klausti takes the genitive, so kas becomes ko.

  6. Šito nepasakosiu bet kam.

    I won't tell this to just anyone.

    With a negative verb, bet kam means not just anyone.

Common Mistakes

  • Writing bet and the question word as one word.

    Betkas gali ateiti.
    Bet kas gali ateiti.

    Bet is always written as a separate word: bet kas, bet koks, bet kada.

  • Leaving the second word in the nominative.

    Paklausk bet kas.
    Paklausk bet ko.

    Klausti takes the genitive, so kas becomes ko. Bet stays the same.

  • Using bet kas to mean nothing or nobody after a negative verb.

    Nemačiau bet ko.
    Nieko nemačiau.

    Here the speaker means that they saw nothing. Nemačiau bet ko would mean I didn't see just anything. For not ... anything, use nieko.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

bet kas / bet koksLevel 4Anyone at All with Bet

Learn This First

Bet combines with a pronoun to mean any choice is acceptable.

Words in This Pattern

kokskada