what kinds of vs. what kind of

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hello all,

a) What kinds of food are there for breakfast?
b) What kind of food are there for breakfast?

Is there any differences in meaning between a) and b)? If there’s any slight one, please let me know!

Thank you in advance,
sweetpumpkin

2

The only nuance in meaning between the two sentences, as I see it, might be that the person saying sentence (a) would clearly seem to expect and/or refer to a variety of foods/dishes, while the second question is a bit less specific (even though it might refer to several breakfast items).

By the way, sentence (b) should read:

What kind of food is there for breakfast?

3

I have one more question about ‘kind’.

  1. What kind of facilities are there in the hotel?
  2. What kind of food is there for breakfast?

If 1) is right, I think 2) could use ‘are’ instead of ‘is’. I cannot explain the grammar, but I think- there should be a lot of facilities and many kinds of food for breakfast in a hotel- so 2) could use ‘are’.

What do you think?

Best,
sweetpumpkin