mysql> explain select * from foo where match(a) against('hello'); +----+-------------+-------+----------+---------------+------+---------+------+------+-------------+ | id | select_type | table | type | possible_keys | key | key_len | ref | rows | Extra | +----+-------------+-------+----------+---------------+------+---------+------+------+-------------+ | 1 | SIMPLE | foo | fulltext | a | a | 0 | | 1 | Using where | +----+-------------+-------+----------+---------------+------+---------+------+------+-------------+ 1 row in set (0.00 sec) mysql>