Learn Arabic › B1 › كَيْتَ
كَيْتَ
such and such /ˈkaj.ta/
adverbB1#1675 most common
Also: so and so, this and that
Example sentences
قَالَ كَيْتَ وَكَيْتَ.
He said such and such.
فَعَلْتُ كَيْتَ وَكَيْتَ.
I did such and such.
أَخْبَرَنِي أَنَّهُ ذَهَبَ إِلَى كَيْتَ وَكَيْتَ.
He told me that he had gone to such and such a place.
لَا تَقُلْ لِي كَيْتَ وَكَيْتَ، أُرِيدُ التَّفَاصِيلَ.
Do not tell me such and such; I want the details.
زَعَمَ الشَّاهِدُ أَنَّ الرَّجُلَ حَدَّثَهُ بِكَيْتَ وَكَيْتَ قَبْلَ الْحَادِثَةِ.
The witness claimed that the man had told him this and that before the incident.
كُلَّمَا سَأَلْتُهُ عَنْ مَوْقِفِهِ رَدَّ بِكَيْتَ وَكَيْتَ دُونَ أَنْ يُحَدِّدَ شَيْئًا.
Whenever I asked him about his position, he answered with such and such without specifying anything.
Word family
كَيْتَ وَكَيْتَsuch and such, this and that
ذَيْتَ وَذَيْتَsuch and such (rhyming variant)
كَذَا وَكَذَاso much and so much, such and such
كَذَاsuch, thus, so
Etymology
كَيْتَ is a native Arabic vague-reference word used to stand in for unspecified speech or events. It almost always appears in the fixed pair كَيْتَ وَكَيْتَ, much as English uses "such and such." It is built on the demonstrative element kāf and rhymes with its variant ذَيْتَ.
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