sort

/sɔːt/ (bre, ipa) · /sɔːrt/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈsȯrt/ (ame, mw)

sort — noun

  • sortsingular
  • sortsplural

1. any group whose members share one or more qualities, making them different from

1.名詞A2
釋義

any group whose members share one or more qualities, making them different from other groups.

例句

What sort of music does Indra like to listen to?

what sort of + noun

The shop sells all sorts of kitchen tools for home cooks.

all sorts of + noun

同義詞
  • type

    more common in formal and technical writing

  • kind

    interchangeable with 'sort' in most everyday situations

  • category

    more formal, used for systematic classifications

文法句型

sort of + noun

this sort of + noun

all sorts of + noun

用法筆記

Often paired with 'of' before the noun it describes. 'Sort of' is slightly less formal than 'type of' or 'kind of' in written English.

常見錯誤

❌What sort from food do you prefer?
✅What sort of food do you prefer?
💡always use 'of' after 'sort' when naming the group.

2. the particular kind of person or thing that someone likes or feels comfortable w

2.名詞B1
釋義

the particular kind of person or thing that someone likes or feels comfortable with.

例句

Live concerts are not really my sort of thing — I prefer quiet evenings.

somebody's sort of thing

Mert is a friendly guy, so he is exactly the sort of person you want on your team.

the sort of person

同義詞
  • my kind of

    slightly more emphatic, used in the same informal contexts

  • my cup of tea

    idiom, informal, mainly British English

文法句型

somebody's sort of + noun

用法筆記

Common in negative constructions ('not my sort of thing'). Can refer to people as in 'somebody's sort', though this can sound dated or judgemental.

3. used after one or more examples to show that the items mentioned are part of a b

3.名詞B1
釋義

used after one or more examples to show that the items mentioned are part of a broader group of similar things.

例句

Nellie enjoys hiking, camping and that sort of outdoor activity.

that sort of + noun (generalising)

The workshop covers planning, budgeting and other topics of that sort.

of that sort

同義詞
  • such things

    more formal, often used in written lists

  • like that

    informal, placed after the noun: 'games like that'

文法句型

that sort of thing

things of that sort

用法筆記

Appears after a list as a catch-all phrase. The plural 'sorts' is common in this sense: 'those sorts of things'.

4. a person who has a particular character, described by an adjective before 'sort'

4.名詞B1
釋義

a person who has a particular character, described by an adjective before 'sort' (the helpful sort) or a phrase after it (the sort who complains). Unlike sense 2, this describes someone's nature, not what they prefer.

例句

Eshe is the helpful sort — she is always the first to offer assistance.

the [adjective] sort (person)

Christopher is not the sort to complain, even when things go wrong.

同義詞
  • type

    used the same way: 'the friendly type'

  • kind

    slightly more formal; 'she's not the kind to give up'

文法句型

sort of + person/noun (with modifier)

用法筆記

Often used with an adjective before 'sort' ('the friendly sort') or a descriptive phrase after ('the sort who always helps'). Can carry a mild judgment.

5. the action of arranging items following a set sequence or dividing them into gro

5.名詞B2
釋義

the action of arranging items following a set sequence or dividing them into groups, especially by a computer program.

例句

The database performed a sort on all user accounts, arranging them by registration date.

perform a sort on + noun phrase

When the teacher clicked the column header, the system ran a sort based on that column's data.

同義詞

文法句型

a sort of + noun (process)

sort + algorithm

用法筆記

In computing, 'sort' names both the process and a specific algorithm ('a bubble sort'). Outside computing it is less common — 'sorting' is preferred for manual tasks.

sort — verb