Do I need "a" or "an" or "the"?

Question

Hi.

As far as I know, we don't need neither of the articles(a/the) before the NOUN found in the phrase "a kind/sort/type of NOUN." Sometimes, however, I come across the sentences using the articles before the NOUN. Is my understanding outdated? Sorry, I can't think of example sentences off the cuff.

Additionally, in case of "sort/kind of NOUN"--meaning "rather" or "somewhat", do we need the article "a" or "an" before the NOUN?
ex)Mr. Komountain is sort of (a/x) perfectionist.
ex)The teacher is kind of (a/x) grammar stickler.

Thank you for your expertise in advance.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

There are two situations, Mr. Komountain:

(1) 'The English teacher is ( a ) kind/sort/ of a grammar stickler.
(2) 'The English teacher is a kind/sort/type of (an) educator.

The first is a softener, the second is a classifier. As you can see, the classifier takes a mandatory article before the 'kind/sort/type', while the article before the noun is informal but common; it is not necessary, but it often appears.

The softener (and notice that 'type' is not among the choices here) usually takes the article before the noun, but the speaker-- because he is softening the statement (i.e. hesitating to proclaim) may add another article before the 'kind/sort'-- in which case the subconscious may or may not drop the second article as redundant. Thus you could hear:

He is sort of a jack-of-all-trades.
He is a sort of a jack-of-all-trades.
He is a sort of jack-of-all-trades.

Since these are all forms of indefinite speech, I would hesitate to choose which is practically superior, but I would lean toward the first one as being least likely to be confused with the classfier.

Do I need "a" or "an" or "the"?

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