The equivalent of "some kind of"/"any kind of" for plural nouns.

[JJXR]

Hello to all,

Thanks for reading my post.


Context

I'm talking about computer programs.

Sample sentences:

The word "program" is in the singular:

1A. I want to create some kind of program that would be capable of performing all this work automatically.

2A. Do you want to create any kind of program that would be capable of performing all this work automatically?

The word "program" is in the plural:

1B. I want create some kind of programs that would be capable of performing all this work automatically.

2B. Do you want to create any kind of programs that would be capable of performing all this work automatically?

Question:

I know that it is wrong to say either "some kind of programs" or "any kind of programs", so I wonder what the equivalent of "some kind of"/"any kind of" for plural nouns is. I suspect that both "any kinds of" and "some kinds of" don't make sense in this case. So, should I simply use either "some" or "any", like this:

1C. I want create some programs that would be capable of performing all this work automatically.

2C. Do you want to create any programs that would be capable of performing all this work automatically?


Thanks a lot for any comments, corrections or suggestions!

Regards,
JJXR

 

[owlman5]

Your last suggested solution looks reasonable to me, and I'd be satisfied with "some programs" if I wanted to express the idea.

"Some new kinds/types of programs" also seems reasonable to me if you want to preserve the idea expressed with "kind" or "type".

 

[JJXR]

Thanks for the response, owlman5.

How about the word "sort", do the sentences below also work?

• I want create some new sorts of programs that would be capable of performing all this work automatically.

• Do you want to create any new sorts of programs that would be capable of performing all this work automatically?

 

[owlman5]

You are quite welcome.

"Sort" and "sorts" also seem fine to me. It is another synonym for "type" or "kind" that you can consider for that sentence.

 

[JJXR]

Thanks a lot for the explanation.

 

[dojibear]

You need to think about your meaning here. You may want to create more than one program, so that may be plural.

But do you want to create more than one "kind of program"? Probably not. Probably all programs that do this specific work automatically are "the same kind of program". They are also "the same sort of program".

So using a plural form of "kind" (or "sort" or "type") is probably wrong, in terms of meaning.

 

[JJXR]

Thanks dojibear.