T he expression "sort of" is used to give an unclear rather than a clear answer. If someone asks you whether your girlfriend is pretty, you can say︰"Sort of." This means "to some extent" or "in some ways". The Chinese equivalent could be "一般啦". If someone asks you whether you are cold, you can also say "sort of" which means a little bit. The Chinese equivalent could be "有啲啦". If someone asks you whether you are hungry, you can also say︰ "Sort of." The Chinese equivalent again could be "一般啦". If you are feeling a bit thirsty, you can say︰ "I am sort of thirsty".
The expression "sort of" doesn't have an important role in a sentence. You can just say "I am thirsty", or "My girlfriend is pretty" without having to add the expression "sort of". Many people, especially Americans, say "kind of" instead of "sort of". If someone asks whether you are sleepy, you can say︰ "I'm kind of sleepy". The Chinese equivalent could be "有啲啦". The expression "kind of" is usually pronounced as "kinda" in American English. It's actually a joining of the words "kind of" but without pronouncing the alphabet "f". It's a slang way of saying "kind of".
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有位讀者問了我一道有關英文習語的有趣問題。她想知道為何操流利英語的人不時會在句子中用上 sort of這個習語。我覺得這條問題挺有趣，因為以英語為第二語言的人，很少知道該怎樣正確使用或甚麼時候可用上這個習語。它是一個非正式的習語，不必依從甚麼文法規則，卻也是個值得學習的習語。Sort這個字有許多意思，也可以有許多用處。要是你的書桌堆滿文件，沒有妥善整理好，你的老闆便可以說：「Sort out好你桌上的文件吧。」即是說你老闆希望你有系統地整理好你書桌上的文件。若你out of sorts，即是你有點不舒服。
習語 sort of是用來表示一個比較不清晰的答案。若某人問你，你的女友漂亮嗎，你可以說：「Sort of.」 這解作某程度或某方面來說，中文的相對用語可以是「一般啦」。若有人問你冷嗎，你也可以說「sort of」，即是有些冷。若有人問你餓嗎，你又可以說「sort of」，中文的說法也是「一般啦」。若你感到有點渴，你可以說：「I am sort of thirsty」。
習語sort of在一句句子中沒有甚麼重要意思，你可以乾脆說「I am thirsty」或 「My girlfriend is pretty」，而不加上習語sort of。許多人，尤其是美國人，會說kind of而非sort of。若有人問你睏嗎﹖你可以說：「I'm kind of sleepy」。中文的說法大概就是「有啲啦」。習語kind of在美式英語裏通常會被說成kinda。那實質是將kind of這兩個字合併但不發f音，那是kind of的俚語說法。
mickchug@gmail.com
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
Source: http://news.stheadline.com/dailynews/headline_news_detail_columnist.asp?id=267403§ion_name=wtt&kw=126