type of

Meanings

1. 1phrasefixed phrase

   Used to say that something belongs to a particular category or kind.

   Grammar: Comes before a singular noun with no article: type of car, type of music.

   Patterns

   • type of something
   • a type of something
   • what type of something

   What type of music do you usually listen to?

   This is a rare type of bird that only lives on one island.

   She asked me what type of job I was looking for.

2. 2phrasefixed phrase

   Used before a plural or uncountable noun to talk about several kinds within a group.

   Grammar: Often written as 'types of' with a plural noun: types of cheese.

   Patterns

   • types of something
   • all types of something
   • different types of something

   The shop sells many types of cheese.

   We discussed different types of pollution in class.

   All types of weather can happen here in one day.

Common combinations

a type of

A sedan is a type of car.

what type of

What type of phone do you have?

this type of

This type of behavior is not acceptable.

types of

The museum shows many types of ancient pottery.

a new type of

Scientists found a new type of bacteria.

Synonyms and how they differ

kind of

Very close in meaning and often interchangeable, but 'kind of' sounds a little more informal.

sort of

Also close, but in British English 'sort of' is especially common in speech.

category

A more formal noun for an official group; use it in writing about classification.

Word family

type noun

A class or group that shares features.

typical adjective

Having the usual features of a type.

typically adverb

In the usual way for a type.

Commonly confused: type of or kind? type of or sort?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “type of”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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