Which is correct: "What kind of CDs" or "What kinds of CDs"?

Question

Is it correct to say:

What kind of CDs do you have?

or

What kinds of CDs do you have?

score 13 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 16 '11 at 15:02

13

I would say it depends on if you're anticipating a singular or plural answer.

If you're asking if someone has read-write or read-only CDs, what kind would be a sensible question.

If you're curious about the various genres the person has in their music collection, what kinds is a better question to ask.

answered Nov 16 '11 at 15:02

Though I agree with your explanation, your sentence structure bothers me. "I would say it depends on if you're anticipating a singular or plural answer." Is the usage of if proper here ? – gtl_pm Nov 18 '11 at 05:29
@nsksp - I don't know about 'proper' but it is certainly sounds normal to me. I guess "whether" might be more formal? – neil May 22 '12 at 17:29

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