A type of and a sort of

Question

0I have writeen two sentences that contain the above-mentioned phrases and want to know why the words that follow those phrases do not seem to have articles when they appear to be countable nouns.02br02br001.A quail is a type of small bird which is often ....02br02br01i00(Why not, a quail is a type of  00(a or the ????)00 small bird which is often ...)02i02br02br002. We link the words with a sort of W or Y sound. 02br02br01i00(Why not, we link the words with of 00(the ???)00 W or Y sound.) 02i02br02br003. If you say someone is not your type, You mean that they are not the sort of  00(a or the ????)00  person who you usually find attractive. 0-

Clive · Accepted Answer

1font00Hi,02font02br
02br
00I have writeen two sentences that contain the above-mentioned phrases and want to know why the words that follow those phrases do not seem to have articles when they appear to be countable nouns.02br
02br
001.A quail is a type of small bird which is often ....02br
02br
01i00(Why not, a quail is a type of 00(a or the ????)00 small bird which is often ...)02i02br
02br
01font00The noun 'bird' here represents all birds, it's a very general reference in which one thing represesents the class of all those things. Compare 01i00'Man02i00 is the most dangerous animal'.02font02br
02br
002. We link the words with a sort of W or Y sound. 02br
02br
01i00(Why not, we link the words with of 00(the ???)00 W or Y sound.) 02i02br
02br
01font01font00Similar explanation02font01i00.02i02font02br
02br
003. If you say someone is not your type, You mean that they are not the sort of 00(a or the ????)00 (01font00neither) 02font00 person who you usually find attractive. 01font00Yes, that's what the idiom means.02font02br
02br
01font00Best wishes, Clive02font0-

Believer · Answer

0Thank you.02br
02br
00Let's focus on No. 1, shall we.02br
02br
00In it, the "bird" is a countable noun and the "man" is a variable noun. As a variable noun, it can refer or be referred (to ????) individually or 01u00in general,02u00 I assume, but as a countable noun, the rule is very strict as its functionality.02br
02br
00If the "bird" can be allowed to shroud itself with the privilege of being able to be used in both senses 01u00-- individually and in general02u00, then am I being reasonable to assume that some other words can be privileged like it too? 02br
02br
003 additional Qs:02br
02br
001. Do I need to include the word "to" in the place in parenthesis? 02br
02br
002. Also, can the 1st underlined word can be switched to "generally"?02br
02br
003. And is the 2nd underlined word OK in terms of its grammar and punctuations?0-

Clive · Answer

1font00Hi,02font02br
02br
01font001.A quail is a type of small bird which is often ....02font02br
02br
01font00(Why not, a quail is a type of 00(a or the ????)00 small bird which is often ...)02font02br
02br
01i01font00The noun 'bird' here represents all birds, it's a very general reference in which one thing represesents the class of all those things. Compare 'Man is the most dangerous animal'.02font02i02br
02br
00Let's focus on No. 1, shall we.02br
02br
00In it, the "bird" is a countable noun and the "man" is a variable noun. As a variable noun, it can refer or be referred (to ????) individually or 01u00in general,02u00 I assume, but as a countable noun, the rule is very strict as its functionality.02br
02br
00If the "bird" can be allowed to shroud itself with the privilege of being able to be used in both senses 01u00-- individually and in general02u00, then am I being reasonable to assume that some other words can be privileged like it too? 01font00 It's because of the phrase 'a sort of' or 'a type of'. You can say 'a type of table' or 'a type of screwdriver' or 'a type of idea'. etc. etc. But you can't say 'Screwdriver is a useful tool'. 02font02br
02br
003 additional Qs:02br
02br
001. Do I need to include the word "to" in the place in parenthesis? 01font00Yes02font02br
02br
002. Also, can the 1st underlined word can be switched to "generally"? 01font00Yes02font02br
02br
003. And is the 2nd underlined word OK in terms of its grammar and punctuations?01font00 Do you mean 01u00individually and in general02u00? Yes, sounds OK02font02br
02br
01font00Best wishes, Clive02font0-

A type of and a sort of

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