What is the different b/w “a kind of a ~” and “kind of a ~”?
Ex: A) It is kind of a big project this year.
B) He is a kind of a catch as a lovor.
How come A) is without “a” while B) is with “a” before “kind”?
Help me! 
Hi Phoo
‘Kind of’ is used to mean rather or somewhat. You can say ‘kind of a’ when referring to a descriptive noun (or adjective + noun together) to limit the degree of what you are describing. Without the word ‘a’, you would be referring to either just an adjective or adverb. Your first sentence sounds natural.
He is kind of a sissy.
He is kind of interesting.
He drives kind of slowly.
However, your second sentence only sounds odd to me.
.
I thought exactly what you said however, I have found some expressions with “a kind of a ~”,
that’s why I am wodering now.
The second one is from my dictornary, also some more examples from the net, you can see.
shalem.org/resources/publica … article_03
“I discovered the deepest personal meaning of my work, that it is a kind of a ministry.”
<sort, kind, species>
I.
kind of + singular noun
sort of + singular noun
species of + singular noun
EXAMPLE: What kind of tree is it?
II.
kind of a/an + singular noun
sort of a/an + singular noun
EXAMPLE: He’s kind of a man. (‘a’ here should be pronunced differently, meaning the man is suck.)
compare:
What kind of car did you buy[color=green]?
What kind of [color=red]a car you bought[color=green]!
III.
kind of + N, V, Adj, Adv…
sort of + N, V, Adj, Adv…
EXAMPLE: He’s kind of hungry. (=He’s a little bit hungry.)
Therefore,
[color=green]being used and [color=red]not being used
[color=green]It’s a kind of book.
[color=green]It’s a kind of a book.
[color=green]It’s kind of a book.
[color=red]It’s kind of book.
[color=green]What kind of book is it?
[color=green]What kinds of books are they?
[color=green]What kind of a book is it?
[color=green]What kinds of the books are they?
[color=red]What a kind of book is it?
[color=red]What a kind of a book is it?
[color=red]What the kinds of books are they?
[color=red]What the kinds of the books are they?
Back to the topic:
A) It is kind of a big project this year.
=It’s quite a big project this year.
=It’s a pretty big project this year.
=I feel it’s a kind of a big project this year.
B) He is a kind of a catch as a lover.
(I’ve never heard of this kind of saying.)
But it must be better if we say:
He is kind of a catch as a lover. (meaning he is bad/suck being a love catcher.)
Hi Phoo
I don’t use the format ‘a kind of a’. Instead I only use ‘a kind of’ to mean ‘a type of’. But even without the second ‘a’, your sentence still sounds odd. It’s completely unclear what ‘catch’ is supposed to mean.
.
I am still confused…
What is the difference b/w “What kind of car did you buy?” and “What kind of a car you bought!”
Are you saying the second sentence means that “Why did you buy such a bad car!”?
And according to my dictionary, “He is kind of a catch as a lover.” means “He is a typ of guy I want to have as my boyfriend.” So confusing…
I agree with Yankee. “A kind of” is used only to describe " a type of". For example: “Mango is a kind of tropical fruits that…”. You use “kind of” to describe “somewhat…”, to me, this is slangy and is used more in conversations, not as much in writing.
In your example…“He is a kind of a catch as a lover…”…like Yankee said, it’s not very clear. How many kinds of catches are there? There should only be one catch. Either he’s a catch or he’s not. So you should simply say : “he’s a catch”, not " he’s a kind of a catch". You can say “he’s kind of a (good) catch” or better you should say “he’s kind of (kinda) a good lover”.
Hi,
This construction to me sounds as if the speaker is being mildly sarcastic. There is a difference between:
What kind of car is that? = tell me the make of the car.
What kind of a car is that? = it looks very strange to me and isn’t really a proper car.
Alan
Hi Phoo
Which dictionary are you using? Did all of your sentences come from your dictionary?
If you refer to someone as “a good/real catch”, it usually means that the person is worth getting, often with the sense that the person is very desirable as a spouse. However, with this meaning, the word ‘catch’ is generally preceded by an adjective. So, if you say “He is kind of a good catch” that does not mean ‘very good’. Instead it means ‘somewhat good’ and therefore suggests that there might have been some other guys who would have been better catches.
.
I want to check the all usage of “a”.
Do you know any good grammar sites on line?
And aldo “some” which has so many maening depending on contxt.
Some people say that “some + singular noun” mans “very bad” and other say “very good”…
I want to learn them all.
He is a kind of a catch as a lover.
Like what Yankee said, I would use:
1.[color=green]He is kind of a catch as a lover. (you take ‘kind of’ away if you want to)
‘kind of’ here you can consider it ‘kind of’ in the sentence: I’m (kind of) hungry.
2.[color=green]He is that kind of catch as a lover.
I won’t use:
1.[color=red]He is a kind of catch as a lover. (‘a’ may cause the meaning odd, but nothing wrong grammatically.)
2.[color=red]He is a kind of a catch as a lover. (the second ‘a’ makes the whole pretty pretty odd)
3…[color=red]He is that kind of a catch as a lover. (the second ‘a’ makes the whole pretty pretty odd)
Maybe you find out something in your dictionary and post it here, let me know where I’m not clear all.
Sorry, the sentence was "He is a kind of a catch as a lover. " as I wrote first.
It was in my Japanese-English dictionary.
www2.alc.co.jp/ejr/index.php?wor … 2JXCKoa0Je
So it sounds like this senence is a kind of Japalish, bad English…
It also gives “What’s a kind of a daily routine for you?” or
" A leather jacket with a kind of a sheepskin hood around it, you know. "
OK, I’ve read that, and I have to admit that my knowing about the usage is not enough, maybe masters who didn’t appear could help with this. 
Hi Phoo
Well, I don’t know whether it’s “Japlish”, but of the three examples you gave, only the third one sounds like
something that might possibly be used in AmE.
To me “a kind of a” uses the article ‘a’ once too often.
“A kind of a catch as a lover” sounds extremely strange to me.
.
Thank you, it was nice to have known how English speaking people see these sentences anyway.(: