My kind of (a) man?

Question

Hi. In one of the episodes of Sherlock, Irene Adler says, "Thank God for the consultant criminal. Gave me a lot of advice about how to play the Holmes boys. Do you know what he calls you? The Ice Man… and the Virgin. Didn’t even ask for anything, he just likes to cause trouble—that’s my kind of man."Now, would the last sentence be incorrect if she said That's my kind of a man? Or does my already do the same job?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

NugsoNow, would the last sentence be incorrect if she said That's my kind of a man?

Not incorrect, but not as idiomatic.

Nugsodoes my already do the same job?

No, I wouldn't say that. The scope of a determiner (my, a, the, ...) doesn't extend into a following of-phrase.

CJ

Nugso · Answer

Hi CalifJim! Thanks for the reply. The fact that an article is always to be used before a noun and there's an exception to that rule in some situations such as this boggles my mind.

CalifJim · Answer

NugsoHi Califjim! Thanks for the reply. The fact that an article is always to be used before a noun and there's an exception to that rule in some situations such as this boggles my mind.

There is indeed a great deal of boggling going on in the minds of learners with respect to the use of articles.

Sometimes we native speakers, too, are amazed at the things we regularly say.

Nevertheless, of-phrases are a hotbed of exceptions when it comes to article usage. "kind of man" is just one of many other expressions like it.

What kind of car do you drive?
That's the kind of market I like to shop at.
I like to make that kind of hamburger.

You might find it helpful to think of these like this. The noun stands for a category, and you can paraphrase it, though awkwardly, thus, though you would never say it this way in real life:

What is the kind of thing in the CAR category that you drive?
That's the kind of thing in the MARKET category that I like to shop at.
I like to make that kind of thing in the HAMBURGER category.

I admit this pushes the problem back one level, because you still have "kind of thing" without an article in the paraphrase. Well, sometimes you just can't have everything!

CJ

Nugso · Answer

Thanks for the reply again, CalifJim!

I like to make that kind of hamburger.
I like to make a kind of hamburger.
I like to make that kind of a hamburger.

Are the last two also correct but not as idiomatic? And speaking of kind of thing, what about What kinds of things and What kind of things?

CalifJimThere is indeed a great deal of boggling going on in the minds of learners with respect to the use of articles.

I hope, at least, it's not such a huge deal, because I never ran into any problems explaining myself or understanding someone when I was on vacation in Amsterdam and Munich.

CalifJim · Answer

Nugsoit's not such a huge deal

No. Most mistakes with articles go almost unnoticed by native speakers, so you will be understood even if you don't choose your articles exactly as native speakers do. The same applies with even greater force for those cases that are not mistakes but simply a little unidiomatic, which is the sort of thing we're discussing here.

Nugso1 I like to make that kind of hamburger. 2 I like to make a kind of hamburger. 3 I like to make that kind of a hamburger.
Are the last two also correct but not as idiomatic?

3 has the meaning of 1, but, as I said earlier, it's not as idiomatic.
2 has a different meaning, and it's a bit slangy.

I like to make a kind of hamburger ~ I like to make something that is like a hamburger, but it is not a hamburger.
~ I like to make something very similar to a hamburger. ~ I like to make something that is "kind of" (like) a hamburger.

'kind of' suggests an approximation in this case. It's unusual to use 'kind of' with a noun, but it will be seen on occasion.

Compare:

I ate too much, so I was kind of sick.
They were all kind of puzzled by what I said.
I suppose you could say it was a kind of pizza that she made. It seems she didn't have the right ingredients available, so she improvised.

CJ

Nugso · Answer

Thanks CalifJim! It's much clearer now.

My kind of (a) man?

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