1. Diction- Kind of and Sort of; Could of, Should of, and Would of
Writing Lab
Diction- Kind of and Sort of; Could of, Should of, and Would of

2. Kind of and Sort of
In informal speech, kind of and sort of are often used incorrectly as adverbs meaning rather, somewhat, nearly, or almost.
INCORRECT: I am kind of (or sort of) depressed about my grade in English.
CORRECT: I am rather depressed about my grade in English.

3. Kind of and Sort of Cont.
Kind of and sort of are used correctly as type of, preceding a noun.
I enjoy this kind of movie.
This is my favorite sort of dessert.

4. Could of, Should of, and Would of
Could of, should of, and would of are non-standard written forms of could have, should have, and would have. The contraction ‘ve (for have) is sometimes incorrectly written as of.
INCORRECT: He could of been accepted to any college he desired.
CORRECT: He could’ve (or could have) been accepted to any college he desired.

5. Practice, Practice, Practice!
I am (kind of/sort of/rather) worried about the midterm exam.
Correct Answer
Rather
He (could of/should of/could have) told you he was going to be late.
Could have

6. More Practice! After work, the teacher is (kind of/rather) tired.
Correct
rather
You look (kind of/rather) bewildered.

7. That’s all, folks!
This lesson is part of the UWF Writing Lab Grammar Mini-Lesson Series
Lessons adapted from Real Good Grammar, Too by Mamie Webb Hixon
To find out more, visit the Writing Lab’s website where you can take a self-scoring quiz corresponding to this lesson