Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[dido4]

Here is the quote from a textbook:



Bill : No, I'm going to watch the black-faced spoonspills there.

Brown :What' that?

Bill : They are a special kind of birds.



1. The author siad that "birds" should be replace by "bird".

That means the "s" at the end of the word bird is wrong.

2.Why?

3.Can't we put s at the end of the word, bird, here.



thank you

[lotus]

Hi dido4,

Bill : No, I'm going to watch the black-faced spoonspills there.
Brown :What' that?
Bill : They are a special kind of birds.


In this case, Bill should say "They are a special kind of bird." "Of bird" is the preposition describing "a special kind."

He could also say "They are a special species of bird", where "species" replaces "kind."

He could also say, "They are a special species", where "species" replaces "kind of bird."

To use "birds", Bill could say "They are special birds" without the article "a".


I would've re-written the dialogue as:

Bill : No, I'm going to watch the Black-faced Spoonspills over there.
Brown :What are they?
Bill : They are a special species of bird.


--lotus

[dido4]

Thank you for giving examples. Here's another one.

Q1.Can we use the sentence "They are one of the special kind of birds." to express that one of the kind?(Q2. Or have to use They are one of the kinds of birds?)

There are many kinds of birds, but the black-faced spoonbill is one of the kind of birds. (Q2. Or have to use one of the kinds of birds?) I mean how to express one of the kind of birds.

Thank you very much.

[lotus]

Hi dido4,

You must capitalize the name of a species. When speaking of a species, you may use singular terms.

Q1: They are a special kind of bird.

Q2: There are many kinds of birds, but the Black-faced Spoonbill is a one-of-a-kind bird.
Or, you can say: There are many kinds of birds, but the Black-faced Spoonbill is unique.


--lotus

[dido4]

Thank you, lotus.