When talking about different varieties of things, kinds, types, and sorts are
essentially the same:
▶️ I like many different types of music.
▶️ All sorts of people come to this club – students, professionals, artists…
▶️ This restaurant has fifty different kinds of sushi.
When asking questions, we usually use the singular form:
▶️ What type of music do you like?
▶️ What sort of people come to this club?
▶️ What kind of sushi is your favorite?
“Type” is the most formal, and it implies more definite categories:
▶️ What type of car is that?
(Answer = A definite type: It’s a Volkswagen / BMW / Ferrari / Toyota / etc. )
▶️ What kind/sort of women do you like to date?
(Answer = More general and descriptive: I like smart women with a good
sense of humor / I tend to be attracted to tall blonde women / etc.…)
We can also use “kind of” and “sort of” in informal English to mean “a little bit.”
They are usually pronounced kinda and sorta:
▶️ A cup of coffee here is $2.50. That’s kinda expensive… at the café near my
house, it’s $1.50.
▶️ I’m sorta hoping the party is canceled this weekend. I’m not really excited
about going.