He’s kind of a sarcastic.
What kind of a flower is this ?
Please check whether they are correct sentences.
He’s kind of a sarcastic. ====> Sarcastic is an adjective, so it should be: He’s kind of sarcastic.
What kind of a flower is this ?====> This one is correct. “The article a/an is usually dropped after sort of, kind of and type of, but structures with articles are possible in an informal style”-----taken from Practical English Usage by Michael Swan.
Mr. Beeesneees,
Are the answers of Mr. Ruifeng correct.
Please comment.
Thanks.
Yes, they are.
Mr. Beeesneees,
1.
instead of saying “He’s kind of sarcastic.”
can I say: “He’s a kind of sarcastic” ?
Which is better?
2.
For “What kind of flower is this ?”
can I say: “What a kind of flower is this ?”
Please comment
No you cannot use the article in either of those sentences
Mr. beeesneees,
I have seen the following sentence somewhere in the web.
“It is a kind of dog.”
Is it wrong?
Hi,
‘A kind of dog’ suggests ‘similar to what a dog looks like’ and is acceptable. ‘He’s kind of sarcastic’ suggests ‘He’s a little bit sarcastic’.
Alan
No, that is not wrong.
The difference is that ‘dog’ is a noun. ‘Sarcastic’, which you chose to use in your example statement, is an adjective.
In your second sentence about the flower, the article is misplaced. The word order changes in a question.
It is a kind of .
What kind of a is this?
Hi,
To develop what I said above, ‘kind of’ (in contrast to ‘a kind of’) suggests ‘to a certain extent’. This can be used both with an adjective or a noun as in: He’s kind of foolish/He’s kind of a fool.
Alan