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    Default kind of

    Could you explain me the "kind of" expression usage? I know it as "somehow" ,a colloquial expression. I don´t know if I have used it in these sentencesin the right way.
    "My mother was also kind of a refined woman "and this would have the same meaning of a woman so refined, or such a refined woman? "They were kind of strange people"
    Another question: "kind of" can be used followed by a verb?" I think I should kind of thank you for your help last month." Or " He kind of broke up when he could recover his puppy again. "
    As you can notice, I am trying to learn English. I thank you a lot.
    Best wishes

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    Senior Member exxcéntrica's Avatar
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    Yes, very colloquial. Do you speak Spanish? Would you like a Spanish expression for that?

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    Moderator SandraT's Avatar
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    As exx wrote, it is colloquial and yes, you can use a verb after kind of, just like the example you mention.
    I am also putting a link here where you can get more examples and also the meaning.

    Kind of: rather: to some (great or small) extent;
    "it was rather cold"; "the party was rather nice"; "the knife is rather dull"; "I rather regret that I cannot attend"; "He's rather good at playing the cello"; "he is kind of shy"
    wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

    Hope it helps!
    Realmente, el destino del mundo depende, en primer lugar, de los estadistas y, en segundo lugar, de los intérpretes.
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    Senior Member mem286's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SandraT
    As exx wrote, it is colloquial and yes, you can use a verb after kind of, just like the example you mention.
    I am also putting a link here where you can get more examples and also the meaning.

    Kind of: rather: to some (great or small) extent;
    "it was rather cold"; "the party was rather nice"; "the knife is rather dull"; "I rather regret that I cannot attend"; "He's rather good at playing the cello"; "he is kind of shy"
    wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

    Hope it helps!
    Good explanation! I'll take some of your examples SandraT to translate them the way we say that in Spanish... at least in Argentina:

    it was kind of cold: estaba como frío, estaba un tanto frío
    I kind of regret that I cannot attend: Como que me arrepiento de no haber ido/asistido
    He's kind of shy: es como tímido, es una tanto tímido

    It's very colloquial and very much used... now thinking about it... it's an awful grammatical structure

    Hope it helps!

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    Thank you. I would certainly like a Spanish expression. I do speak Spanish! I am from Argentine.

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    I thank you a lot for your help, Sandra T and Member 286. I´ll keep on studying, as you can see I am kind of confused with several English expressions.

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    good explanations for something that´s a bit confusing. A few other synonyms are: a little, a bit, a tad, sort of.

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    Senior Member Frank van den Eeden's Avatar
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    I would like to add that KIND OF (= slightly) is informal (also KINDA = US)
    and is often used to show that you are not certain about something
    or when you try to describe something but you cannot be exact (I guess, I think, I kind of...)

    When you say “my mother was kind of a refined woman”
    that does not mean the same as “my mother was such a refined woman”
    beste groeten - sincères salutations - kindest regards - atentamente - mit freundlichen Grüßen

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    Senior Member mem286's Avatar
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    Gosh!!!!!! What a team we are!!!

    I'm proud of you all!!

    PLEASE, DO NOT CHANGE!

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    I certainly thank you all a lot for your useful answers.
    Can I make another question?:is it right to say: I have mistaken speaking with him.? I know the verb to mistake usage like to confuse: I have mistaken Peter with John all my life. But, can we use it into another way?
    My best regards

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