Sound someone out means to find out carefully what a person thinks before you suggest something. She sounded him out about the dates before making an offer. The second meaning is to read a word by saying each sound in turn: the child sounded out the word slowly.
Want to use sound out in conversation?
Write a sentence — we'll show the mistakes right away and suggest how to say it more naturally.
The check is taking longer than usual. Your feedback will appear here automatically.
sound someone out about/on an idea; sound out a word
- We sounded the neighbours out about sharing a garden.
- Before making an offer, she sounded him out on the proposed dates.
- The child sounded out the unfamiliar word slowly.
What changed
First versionI wanted to sound out her before the meeting.
RevisionI wanted to sound her out before the meeting.
We say ask her or check with her, with the person at the end, so sound out her seems natural. But a short pronoun goes inside: sound her out. The topic comes with about or on: sound her out about the trip.
Ask for an opinion means ask directly. Sound out means find out carefully and in advance, sometimes without showing your hand. Sound off is the opposite: loudly giving your own opinion.
Your turn
Choose the correct pronoun position: Before proposing the change, let's ___.
Show the answer
sound them out — In sound out, the pronoun them goes between sound and out: sound them out.
Describe whose opinion you wanted to check in advance, and about what proposal.
We sounded the volunteers out about a Saturday session before choosing the date.
Learn to use new words without mistakes
Write phrases with the words you are learning. LetsWords shows mistakes in usage and grammar, suggests corrections and explains them, and review helps the words stick.