Sort of & Kind of

Hey guys, I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on "sort of" and "kind

of." Immediately, I have to tell you, there is no difference in the meaning between "sort

of" and "kind of" in the context that we are talking about today. Now, I have six sentences,

and I have split them into two different sections because they do use "sort of," "kind of" in

a slightly different way, contextually. So, the first one, we have, "I'm kind of hungry."

"He's kind of crazy." "I'm sort of tired." Okay, now, what do you think this means? Okay.

Essentially, what "sort of" and "kind of" mean are not exactly, but a little bit. So,

in the first example, if I say, "I'm kind of hungry." Maybe I'm not really, really,

really, really hungry, but I'm a little hungry. Okay? So, this means not exactly, but a little.

So, "sort of" and "kind of" can mean not exactly, but a little. And, what we do after "sort

of" and "kind of" is we generally add an adjective. Okay? You can add an adjective. It is also

possible to add a noun, and we're going to look at a noun example in a moment.

First, I just want to make sure that you guys understand the two sentences here. "He's kind

of crazy." He's not exactly crazy, but he's a little crazy. Okay? "I'm sort of tired."

So, if you are asking me, you know, "How do you feel? How are you?" and maybe it's really

late, and I say, "I'm sort of tired. I'm kind of tired." This means I'm a little tired.

Not exactly tired, but a little tired. Okay?

Now, this sentence here, this can actually go with these ones. What... Can a person be

a little crazy? Usually, if you say a sentence like this, like, "He's kind of crazy. He's

sort of crazy," you mean it in a sarcastic or a comedic way. So, you're trying to be

funny a little bit. So, we can use "sort of" and "kind of" if we want to be funny about

something or make fun of someone, but be soft about it. So, we can use it to soften a meaning.

Okay, so, we can use "them sort of" and "kind of" sarcastically or comedically, meaning

like a comedy, so it's funny. Okay? And, like I said, so, for example, "He's kind of crazy."

Like, you're trying to really, really be a little funny about it, and you're also trying

to soften the meaning. So, we can use them sarcastically or comedically or to soften,

meaning to make it softer. All right? So, it's not nice. It's not polite to say, "He's

crazy." Like, "He's kind of crazy."

Here, "He's sort of a jerk." Right? A jerk is not a nice guy. You're using sarcasm. You're

using comedy here. So, if you ask me, you know, "Your friend Mark, what kind of guy

is he?" And, you know, I want to be a little funny. I say, "He's kind of a jerk. He's sort

of a jerk." I don't want to be mean and say, "He's a jerk. Don't hang out with him." So,

I just say, "He's kind of a jerk." I apologize for the sirens. They are sort of annoying.

Just kind of annoying. It's a busy street outside. Okay? So, we're going to continue.

We're kind of lost. So, here, I'm using "kind of" to soften the meaning. I don't want to

alarm my friends, but if we're driving in a car, we're on a road trip, we're driving

across the country, I have no idea where we are, and, you know, I call somebody, a friend

at home, and they want to tell me where I am because I have no idea. And they ask me,

"Okay, well, where are you? You need help. I want to come pick you up." I say, "Well,

we're kind of lost. I have no idea where we are." We're not exactly lost. You are lost,

though, but you're trying to soften the meaning. You're trying to be a little funny. And she's

kind of important. Okay? So, if we're talking about, I don't know, like, Marie Curie, the

discoverer of radium or something, and we're talking about important women in history,

and I think, and I mention Marie Curie, and you're like, "Who's Marie Curie? I've never

heard of her at this point. Marie Curie." Okay? And I say, "You don't know Marie Curie?

She's kind of important in history." Okay? One more thing. So, we know that we can use

it to mean not exactly, but a little. We can use it to be sarcastic, to make a meaning

softer a little bit. The pronunciation, "kind of," "sort of," many people also pronounce

it as "kinda," "sorta." So, in quick speech, I apologize, you can say, "sorta," "kinda."

Now, please don't write this, but you can use it in informal speech. So, instead of,

"I'm kind of hungry," when you say it quickly, "I'm kinda hungry." "He's kinda crazy." "I'm

sorta tired." "He's sorta a jerk." Well, this one not really because you have "uh-uh." So,

if you have a vowel, it's "sort of a," right? "Sort of a jerk." "We're kinda lost." "She's

kinda important." "Kind of important," because, again, vowel sound.

All right, guys. That's it for this lesson. So, if you want to test your understanding

of "kind of" and "sort of," check out the quiz on www.engvid.com. Take care.