Difference between sort of and kind of
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No difference in meaning, but some difference in level of speech. "Sort of" sounds more cultured. As you probably know, the complete phrase is (or was) "a kind of", "a sort of" (una suerte de).
"Kinda" and "sorta" shouldn't be used in writing, unless of course you're writing dialogue in dialect.
"Kinda" and "sorta" shouldn't be used in writing, unless of course you're writing dialogue in dialect.
Most native english speakers would say "sorta" and "kinda" (but wouldn't use them in writing, since they're slang). There really isn't a difference- it depends on the situation.
For example,
I sort of need help. (this would mean that you basically understand it, but it would be nice if someone could go over it with you)
I kind of like that man. (meaning that you don't love him, but he's a pretty nice guy)
I hope these help! Sorry I couldn't get more specific- most native English speaker would either in most situations, there really isn't a great difference.
~Elizabeth
For example,
I sort of need help. (this would mean that you basically understand it, but it would be nice if someone could go over it with you)
I kind of like that man. (meaning that you don't love him, but he's a pretty nice guy)
I hope these help! Sorry I couldn't get more specific- most native English speaker would either in most situations, there really isn't a great difference.
~Elizabeth
Thank you! I guess it's difficoult to understand the use of these words for spanish native speakers because i think there's no literal translation to spanish. Can you tell me some usages of "kind of" or "sort of"? You said the complete phrase was "a kind of" or "a sort of", but i've seen it many times without "a".
Whats the meaning of "sort of" in this sentence:
- everybody studies english here
- sort of like everyone studies spanish here
Whats the meaning of "sort of" in this sentence:
- everybody studies english here
- sort of like everyone studies spanish here
most of the people study Spanish here, almost everyone studies Spanish here, etc.
By the way, Mr. O'Gara is incorrect: when using "kind of" or "sort of" to mean "somewhat", "more or less" as we are here, "a" cannot be used. "A sort of like everyone studies spanish here" is not correct English.
By the way, Mr. O'Gara is incorrect: when using "kind of" or "sort of" to mean "somewhat", "more or less" as we are here, "a" cannot be used. "A sort of like everyone studies spanish here" is not correct English.
Once upon a time most people would not have said sort of or kind of in way that sorta and kinda are used now.
Gradually, they became increasingly common, but because people wrote a lot, they knew that they were saying sort of and kind of.
They said sort of and kind of more and more, so that the articulation began to blur with increasing familiarity.
Over time, people came to consider them an essential part of the language so that they began to want to write them down. But they had no memory of what the original words were so they wrote down a close approximation to what they thought they heard, sorta and kinda.
For some of us, these are modern, convenient words that are roaring into acceptability.
For others of us these are expletives that should have been strangled at birth.
While the debate continues, it would be prudent to avoid their use in contexts where they may come across the second category of people wielding power.
Gradually, they became increasingly common, but because people wrote a lot, they knew that they were saying sort of and kind of.
They said sort of and kind of more and more, so that the articulation began to blur with increasing familiarity.
Over time, people came to consider them an essential part of the language so that they began to want to write them down. But they had no memory of what the original words were so they wrote down a close approximation to what they thought they heard, sorta and kinda.
For some of us, these are modern, convenient words that are roaring into acceptability.
For others of us these are expletives that should have been strangled at birth.
While the debate continues, it would be prudent to avoid their use in contexts where they may come across the second category of people wielding power.
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Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
Well, that is a little harsh.
It means that the speaker is not sufficiently certain of his facts to use the same structure as the first version.
The above comments apply equally to like in that sentence.
Wrong. It means that while almost everyone studies Spanish, it's not quite 100%.
As for your first post, "sorta" and "kinda" are never written except in extremely informal speech such as IM, or purposefully in dialogue. In informal writing, every educated Anglophone uses "sort of" and "kind of". In formal writing, of course, the terms are not used at all.
By the way, as much as it may seem vile to you, the word "like" is more than useless filler. It does have a meaning, however slight. "That's the biggest hot dog I've ever seen!" and "That's, like, the biggest hot dog I've ever seen!" have two distinctly different meanings.
As for your first post, "sorta" and "kinda" are never written except in extremely informal speech such as IM, or purposefully in dialogue. In informal writing, every educated Anglophone uses "sort of" and "kind of". In formal writing, of course, the terms are not used at all.
By the way, as much as it may seem vile to you, the word "like" is more than useless filler. It does have a meaning, however slight. "That's the biggest hot dog I've ever seen!" and "That's, like, the biggest hot dog I've ever seen!" have two distinctly different meanings.
Not quite true,
I would say that "sort of like" in this context is used to mean similarly,
Granted it is not a neccesary part of the sentence, however, like in this context is not used gramatically well.
That's possible, but I think the general usage includes that intention as well as no meaning.
Sorta and kinda appear routinely in posts here, despite requests to avoid their use.
I never used the word vile
And as with like sort of everyone, I agree that the intention could include that subtlety, but as it is not applied consistently it couldn't be relied on.
Incidentally, how would you explain the difference? (Genuinely curious)
OK, you are reading the two lines as consecutive parts of a dialogue - in which case I agree with you. I was reading them as two independent statements.Soy guapo o Tom-Cualquier said:
I must respectfully disagree. "Sort of everyone" always means something different from "everyone". I'm not disputing that sometimes "sort of" and "kind of" have no meaning (I'm not saying I agree, just that I'm not disputing it; I really don't know), but in this particular case ("sort of everything") they certainly do.
All you've done is convinced me that people regularly use highly informal writing on this forum, and that some members have requested that they refrain from doing so. I, personally, write formally than most people on forums. On this particular one, I try to write exactly as I would when writing a paper for English class. Hovever, in the modern Internet culture most forum users write in a highly informal fashion.
Which is why I said, "however vile you may think it is". I know nothing of your personal beliefs on the subject, but many people consider that the fact that "like" is highly non-standard and informal (which is true) to mean that it is incorrect (which brings up the old debate of what it means for an utterance to be "grammatically correct) or even that it is "a vile word that is ruining our language, God save the children!" (which is absurd).I never used the word vile
"Like" here serves as an indicator that the sentence is an exaggeration that is not to be taken literally. "That's the biggest hot dog I've ever seen!" means that, literally, the hot dog is the biggest one ever seen by the speaker. "That's, like, the biggest hot dog I've ever seen!" simply means that the hot dog is quite big. The version without "like" could certainly be uttered by someone who simply wanted to point out that it was a gigantic hot dog, but his utterance would then be a factually incorrect exagguration.