MySQL - SOUNDS LIKE Operator

---

---

The MySQL SOUNDS LIKE operator is used to perform a fuzzy search on strings that sound similar but may be spelled differently. Fuzzy search searches for text that matches a term closely instead of exactly.

SOUNDS LIKE operator is based on the Soundex algorithm, which is a phonetic algorithm that converts words into a code based on their sound. This operator returns 1 if the Soundex codes of two strings are same, and 0 if they are different.

Syntax

Following is the syntax of SOUNDS LIKE operator −

expr1 SOUNDS LIKE expr2

Example

In the following example, we are comparing two equal strings −

SELECT 'tutorialspoint' SOUNDS LIKE 'tutorialspoint';

Following is the output of the above code −

'tutorialspoint' SOUNDS LIKE 'tutorialspoint'
1

Example

If the soundex values of both arguments doesn't match, this function returns 0 −

SELECT 'banana' SOUNDS LIKE 'apple';

Output of the above code is as shown below −

'banana' SOUNDS LIKE 'apple'
0

Example

In both arguments of this function are empty, it returns 1 −

SELECT '' SOUNDS LIKE '';

We get the output as follows −

'' SOUNDS LIKE ''
1

Example

If the either of the arguments of this function is NULL, it returns NULL −

SELECT NULL SOUNDS LIKE 'test';

Following is the output of the above code −

NULL SOUNDS LIKE 'test'
NULL

Example

Let us create a table named "STUDENTS_TABLE" and insert records into it using CREATE and INSERT statements as shown below −

CREATE TABLE STUDENTS_TABLE (
   name VARCHAR(15),
   marks INT,
   grade CHAR
);

Now, let us insert records into it using the INSERT statement −

INSERT INTO STUDENTS_TABLE VALUES 
('Raju', 80, 'A'),
('Rahman', 60, 'B'),
('Robert', 45, 'C');

The STUDENTS_TABLE obtained is as follows −

name	marks	grade
Raju	80	A
Rahman	60	B
Robert	45	C

Following query compares the entities of the column "name" with the string 'Raju' and retrieves the result −

SELECT name, marks, grade, name SOUNDS LIKE 'robert'
FROM STUDENTS_TABLE;

After executing the above code, we get the following output −

name	marks	grade	name SOUNDS LIKE 'robert'
Raju	80	A	0
Rahman	60	B	0
Robert	45	C	1