grammatical number - Can "what kind" be plural?


Is it correct to say, "What kind of patents are being issued in these sophisticated times?" It seems like it should be What kind of patents is being issued..., but that sounds wrong. What kind of patent is being issued... is correct and sounds right, but loses a little bit of the original meaning.


Is there something magic about what kind that allows it to be plural, or do people just misuse it a lot?



Answer



Is kind of patents ever correct?


It’s a bit informal. Kind of (plural noun) is surprisingly uncommon in formal writing, fairly uncommon even in journalism, but common in speech and fiction:



She had the kind of eyes that followed you around the room. I’d thought that happened only with paintings… (fiction)


But I don't think it faces the kind of problems, say, a Los Angeles does. (spoken)


Those kind of games tend to be tiebreakers with teams that are alike. (spoken)



Does kind of patents take a singular or plural verb?


Plural, almost always. This is like how a lot of people is plural. No one says A lot of people is upset about it. So it’s what kind of patents are, not is.


Is this the kind of thing where whatever option I choose, it’s going to sound wrong to someone?


Yes.


Then is it best to just recast the sentence entirely?


That’s up to you. I probably would, unless the context was informal.


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