kind, sort, and type
Very often it makes no difference which of these words we use. But good dictionaries point out some subtle differences. In fact, sometimes only one of these words is correct. For example, it would be wrong to use ’sort’ or ‘kind’ in sentence 1 below.
Compare these 3 sentences:
1. What is your blood type?
(Expected answer is a precise named category.)
2. What sort of prices do they charge?
(Expected answer is a description rather than a named category.)
3. What kind of dog is that?
(Probable answer is a named category, but not necessarily as precise as 1 above.
A descriptive answer is also possible.)
So …
- ‘type‘ usually means a precisely defined category.
- ‘sort‘ is more general, often about character rather than definition and can be used in a negative way e.g. What sort of person would do a terrible thing like that?
- ‘kind‘ is about half way between, usually referring to large categories or families of things that are naturally related.
Note that ‘type’ cannot be used as a hedge phrase, as in ‘She’s a bit sort of (or kind of) upset about it.’
Comment by Nematullah
is it right to say what sort of person he in English?
Comment by admin
Yes, “What sort of person is he?” is a common question in English. If you ask this question, you’d expect to hear something about the person’s character.
Comment by Yeleana
I have a doubt,What is the difference between say
You are sort of beatiful and You are kind of beatiful
What is the difference between sort of and kind of in that way
Comment by admin
There’s very little difference in this case. I think ’sort of’ sounds a bit less sure.
Comment by Yeleana
Ohh,ok,so sort of is a little bit less sure and kind of is more sure
Comment by magedpc
could you please give us more examples about that difference ?
Comment by admin
When used as ‘hedge phrases’ or ’softeners’, kind of and sort of are pretty much the same. So “She’s/He’s kind of beautiful/crazy/neurotic.” is similar to “… sort of beautiful/crazy/neurotic.” Kind of is probably more common, especially in American English. To see lots of examples, use double quotation marks in a google search, i.e. “He’s kind of neurotic”, “She’s sort of beautiful” etc. The context and the following sentences will give you an understanding of how the phrases are used. Usually they mean ‘He’s beautiful/crazy/neurotic in a way.’ or they may just express the speaker’s wish to soften what he’s saying.