Hi, Zhang! "Sort of" and "kind of" have two primary uses: the first is to "soften" the words or phrases that follow, allowing them to not sound too exact or direct (or as you defined it, "to some great or small extent"). The second is as a synonym for "type of." For the first use, they're almost always interchangeable. For the second use, "kind of" is used more frequently than "sort of," and while "sort of" can become "kind of," it doesn't always apply the other way. Here are some examples: First use (this is the one you're asking about): "I am kind of sick today." / "I am sort of sick today." These mean that you might be feeling unwell, but not to the point where you need to stop doing everything and go rest. "She was only kind of happy to receive that gift." / "She was only sort of happy to receive that gift." These mean that, while she may have been happy to receive the gift she was given, she wasn't overly joyous about it. Second use (this is the one you already know): "There was some sort of problem with our computers." In this sentence, we know that our computers had some type of problem, but we don't know exactly what it was. We can change "sort of" to "kind of" and have it retain its meaning. "The shark is a kind of fish." In this sentence, we're categorizing sharks as members of the fish family. However, while we technically can say "sort of," we don't do it. I hope I helped answer your question. Please let me know if I didn't.

Here are some examples of Mr. Zhang's meaning #2, where "sort of" means "kind of" or "category." "What sort of restaurant is the Capital Grille?" "It's an expense steakhouse." "What sort of vacations do you like to take?" "We like to go camping and see places of natural beauty." "What sort of material are these pants made of?" "They're 80% polyester, 20% wool." Here are some examples of meaning #1, "softening," making something indefinite or vague. When you say "X is sort of Y," you are saying "X isn't exactly Y, but it's in the same general category as Y--it's somewhat like Y." "How's the weather looking?" "It's sort of gray and blustery. I don't know if it's going to rain, but I don't think we should plan on a picnic." "I want something light and humorous to read. I've never read anything by Kurt Vonnegut, do you think I'd enjoy his novels?" "I don't know. He's sort of humorous, but it's a very dark and cynical humor." "This whale watch cruise is exciting! But now that we're out of the harbor, there's a little chop to the water. What's wrong with Joe, he looks sort of green." "He gets sea-sick easily."

Download Microsoft Onenote and record the lectures for each of your classes. Take notes inside of the recording box that you will see. Later, when you listen to the notes, you can use software to type the words of the lecture and even use Onenotes' powerful translation feature.

To some extent is a good description and most of the time could be interchanged with 'kind of'. "Coming back to this place sort of/kind of takes me back to my childhood." Or, "she's sort of/kind of tall with blonde hair". Hope this helps.