sort
Sort is used as a noun to talk about a class of people or things. Sort is a countable noun. After words like all and several, you use sorts.
There are all sorts of reasons why this is true.
They sell several sorts of potatoes.
After sorts of you can use either the plural or singular form of a noun. For example, you can say ‘They sell most sorts of shoes’ or ‘They sell most sorts of shoe’. The singular form is more formal.
There were five different sorts of biscuits.
They attract two main sorts of investor.
After sort of you use the singular form of a noun.
I know you're interested in this sort of thing.
‘What sort of car did she get?’ – ‘A sports car.’
In conversation, these and those are often used with sort. For example, people say ‘I don’t like these sort of jobs' or ‘I don’t like those sort of jobs'. This use is generally thought to be incorrect. Instead, you should say ‘I don’t like this sort of job' or ‘I don’t like that sort of job'.
They never fly in this sort of weather.
I've had that sort of experience before.
In more formal English, you can also say ‘I don’t like jobs of this sort'.
A device of that sort costs a lot of money.
You can also use like this, like that, or like these after a noun. For example, instead of saying ‘this sort of weather’, you can say ‘weather like this’.
I don't know why people say things like that.
Cafés like these are found in every town in Britain.
Kind is used in a similar way to sort.
➜ See kind
You can also use sort of to describe something in a vague or uncertain way.
➜ See sort of - kind of