sort through — to look at a group of things and separate them into different types
phrasal verbB1IELTS 5+neutralcommon
to examine a group of items carefully and put them into categories, or decide what to keep and what to throw away.
Say it like a native
Textbook I categorised the items into separate groups.
Native I sorted through my old clothes.
'Sort through' is the everyday verb for going through a pile to organise or choose; the paraphrase is stiff.
Pattern: sort through + noun
In use
- I need to sort through my emails and delete the ones I don't need.daily life
- In my opinion, it's important to sort through your notes regularly so you can find information quickly when you need it.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ I need to sort through with my old clothes.
✓ I need to sort through my old clothes.
'Sort through' takes the object directly — no 'with'.
Common collocations
sort through + pile— old clothes, the mail, boxes, photos
Don't confuse it
Not the same as 'sort out', which often means to solve a problem or organize something generally.