Meaning & use
sort
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Meanings
nouncountable
A kind or category of person, thing, or situation with shared features.
Grammar: Countable; common patterns are this sort of, all sorts of, and a sort of.
Patterns
- this sort of problem
- all sorts of people
- a sort of shelter
What sort of music helps you concentrate?
We faced the usual sort of delay: rain, traffic, and a late driver.
phrasefixed phraseinformal
Used before an adjective to mean somewhat or in a vague way, softening the description.
Grammar: Informal spoken modifier; not used before nouns in the same way as meaning one.
Patterns
- sort of tired
- sort of understand
- sort of like
I’m sort of tired, but I can still help for an hour.
She sort of understood the rule but could not explain it.
verbtransitive or intransitive
To arrange people or things into groups or order according to a feature such as size, date, or type.
Grammar: Can take an object: sort the letters; can also be intransitive in contexts like sort by size.
Patterns
- sort something by date
- sort something into groups
- sort through papers
Please sort the receipts by month before Friday.
We sorted through the attic boxes and donated three bags of clothes.
Word forms
| third person singular | sorts |
|---|---|
| past tense | sorted |
| past participle | sorted |
| -ing form | sorting |
Common combinations
- sort out
- Can you sort out these cables before the guests arrive?
- sort by size
- The app can sort by size, name, or date.
- all sorts of
- The market sells all sorts of spices.
Synonyms and how they differ
- kind
- Very close; kind is a little more neutral and common in American questions like “what kind?”
- type
- Slightly more formal and precise; type often names a class in science, design, or data.
- organize
- As a verb, organize is broader; sort emphasizes grouping by a chosen feature.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: sort or sought?
sort vs sought
Sought is the past tense of seek; sort is a category or act of arranging, despite the similar sound.
Practice
Which sentence uses “sort” as a verb?
Choose one answer.
Only option 2 has sort followed by a direct object and an arrangement action. The others are noun/phrase uses meaning kind or somewhat.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sort”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.