dragn
Joined: 17 Feb 2009
Posts: 450
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 Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 12:06 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
A: What kinds of frogs are thay?
B: They are A-type frogs.
Q1: There is only one kind of frogs: A-type.
Why A says kinds of not kind of?
Q2: Is the sentence right?
What kind of frogs are they?
What's the difference? |
There may in fact only be one type of frog; however, when speaker A says "What kinds of frogs are they?" it is clear that he does not know that (or at least is not assuming that). Speaker A apparently thinks there may be more than one type of frog in the group, and thus he uses the plural form kinds. If speaker A had known they were all of the same type, he would have used kind. If speaker A knew for a fact all the frogs were of the same type and still used kinds, then speaker A doesn't speak English very well. 
In other words, "What kind of frogs are they?" suggests the speaker knows that all the frogs are of the same type. He is only asking about the identity of that one type.
"What kinds of frogs are they?" suggests the speaker thinks there may be any number of different types of frogs in the group. He wants to know the identity of all the various types there may be.
Hope this is clear.
Greg |
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