sort

«sort» in Mova's school dictionary: a kind or type of something — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a sort, sorts); verb (sort, sorts, sorted, sorting)

meaning for a pupil

1) A sort is a kind or type of something. tree →

2) To sort things is to put them into groups by what they are like, or into an order. tree →

3) To sort something out is to fix a problem or tidy something up. tree →

4) «Sort of» (informal) means a little, or in some way. tree →

sense in the lessons

In maths and science, sorting means grouping objects by a property (colour, shape, size, even/odd numbers, living/non-living) using tables, Venn and Carroll diagrams, or ordering numbers from smallest to largest. In everyday life you sort laundry, recycling or toys. In the UK, «sorted» informally means fixed or arranged. Phrases: «all sorts of», «what sort of», «sort out», «sort of», «sort by size».

examples

• What sort of music do you like? tree →
• Sort the shapes into triangles and squares. tree →
• We sorted the recycling into paper, glass and cans. tree →
• Sort these numbers from smallest to largest. tree →
• There were all sorts of animals at the farm. tree →
• Can you sort out this mess before dinner? tree →
• I'm sort of tired, but I can keep going. tree →
• Mum and Dad sorted out the argument. tree →
• "Who sowed this sort of corn?" tree →

note

«Sort» and «kind» mean the same as nouns. «These sort of things» is common speech, but careful English says «these sorts of things» or «this sort of thing». Do not confuse with «sought» (past of seek) or «salt». In maths, sorting does not change how many things there are.

In the corpora

• Debt is common and can be sorted.
• Sorting it is the grown-ups' job, not the child's, and asking for help early is the sensible move.
• Laundry means sorting colours, reading labels and choosing the right temperature; a red sock in a white wash turns everything pink.
• A good way to sort any bit of gossip is to ask four things.
• Kind stories spread too, and they are the nicest sort of gossip.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «sort» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.