Hi. Welcome back to www.engvid.com. I'm Adam.
Today's lesson is about the word "set". Now, this word has many meanings and uses, and
I was asked to make a lesson about this. And I know that it's in the dictionary, you can
look it up, but sometimes it's easier to just hear the lesson, hear the explanations of
the words, get some examples of how they're used, and you absorb it a little bit differently
this way. So, we're going to look at the different meanings of "set". Now, "set" can be a verb,
it can be a noun, it can be an adjective. Okay? So, we're going to look at these. And
again, these are the more common uses. There are a few others that I didn't include;
you can look those up if you need them. So, first: "to set". Now, the thing you have
to remember about "set", this is called an ambitransitive verb. You don't need to know
that word "ambitransitive", but it means it can be a transitive or an intransitive, meaning
it can take an object or not take an object. Okay? So, we can set something, we can place
it somewhere, we can put it down. Right? So, if I'm going to... If I have a vase-a vase/vase,
however you want to pronounce it; both are okay-full of flowers, I want to set it on
the table. Okay? So, I can set it down on the table. Set the vase, the vase being the
object. And you can... I can set the ladder, or I can set the picture over there against the
wall. So, I can put it in a place or a position. Sometimes it's actually
used to mean "to sit". Okay? So, please set...
Set the baby or set the child in the chair. It doesn't mean, like,
plop it there, it means make the child sit in the chair. It's essentially the same idea,
except we use the verb "set", rather than the verb "to sit". You can't
say: "Please sit the child." You can say: "Seat the child in the
chair", it means put him in the seat. Or, you could say: "Set
the child in the chair", put him there. Okay? So,
that's one common use of it. "Establish". Now, here I have "establish"
and "build", they're essentially the same idea, but you build something physical-okay?-and
you establish something not necessarily physical, more of an idea or a concept. So if I establish
something, if I set up a fund... We often use it with the preposition "up", which makes it
a phrasal verb: "Set up a fund" means establish. Set up a school, establish a school, or found
a school, or begin a school. So, this is a very common use of the word "set", to establish
something, to set it up, to begin it, to start it, etc. You can also set up something physical.
For example, I'm going to be giving a performance, I want a little stage, so I set up the stage;
I get it ready, I get it built, every... All the lights, everything's in place, and then I
give my presentation, performance, whatever. If you have... If you're going to a conference
or a convention for your company, you want to... You have a little booth where you're
going to present your information, you can set up your exhibit, for example.
Oops, sorry about that. So, "set up your exhibit" means you're building it, but you're also preparing
it at the same time. It's the same idea. You can also "set" means to apply something to
something. So, if you "set fire to the building" means you're applying fire, you're putting
the fire to the building - the building goes up in flames. Okay? So, you
can set, apply, or you can focus. You can "set your mind on something".
And again, you notice that I'm using "set fire to", "set
your mind on". A lot of the times, "set" is used as a
phrasal verb, it's used with prepositions and they have the different meanings. So you're
kind of... You're kind of getting a double lesson, here; you're getting phrasals and
you're getting just the general word "set" as a verb. So, "set fire to", "set off the
alarm" means you... There's smoke, it applied... You apply the source, the trigger
to the alarm, the alarm goes off. You "set your mind
on something". "Set" can also mean sink or decline. For example,
the sun sets in the west every day, or every evening I should say. So, "set" means sink, go
down. But you can also use it just to generally refer to a decline, to going down.
Now, you can actually mix the two. You can say: "The American Empire
is setting." This is not as common, but you can say that. It means it's in decline;
it's getting lower and lower. But you can also say: "The sun is setting on the American Empire." This is just
an example. I'm not making any political statements, here, just so we understand. "Sun is setting on
something" means it's in decline, it's weakening and losing power. Something becomes thick or hard, so for example,
if you're building a building and you have concrete... So, this is a good example. I
hope everybody knows what concrete is, it's that grey stuff that you build buildings with.
Once you place the concrete in its place and everything's smooth and level, then you have
to wait maybe a day or maybe 36 hours for the concrete to set. "To set" means it becomes
thick and hard, and doesn't move and stays in place. If you try to step on it too quickly,
your foot will sink in. Okay? So, you have to let it set, and then you can build on top
of it. You can also just think of something becoming hard. Here's a good word for you... Riga-... Sorry. "Rigamortis". So, when a body, when a person dies, their body's still warm and soft and
whatever, after a little while after all the heat starts to go away, rigamortis sets in.
And again, we're using a preposition. "Set in" means it takes hold. Okay? So, here,
we're talking about take hold. And it's becoming hard, it's losing all its softness and heat,
but something... This takes hold. It becomes permanent, it becomes... Well, becomes set. It
becomes part of the thing. So, the concrete sets or becomes thick and hard, and it also
takes hold of whatever it's being poured on. So, you pour the concrete on a little area, it
sets, and it sets, takes hold of the thing. Becomes permanent. Once the effect of something
sets on the place, that's the new idea. So, a new manager comes to the company, he brings
with him or with her a new corporate culture. Okay? He or she likes to do things very differently.
At the beginning, everybody hates it, everybody's fighting against it, everybody's rebelling.
But eventually, the new habits set in. Again, we're using the "in", it sets in, it becomes
permanent. It takes hold of the people, it takes hold of the place. It
becomes the new normal. Okay? So, these are the most common verbs using
"set". Now, we can also use "set" as a noun. So, for example, I like to play golf. Actually,
I'm not very good at it, but I like to play, and I have a golf set. This is my bag with all
the clubs in it, and it's a complete set. So, it's a collection or series of things.
Now, I also like Lego, and I like Star Wars, and I have the complete Star Wars Lego set. So,
this is basically a series. It's a collection of pieces that make up one whole group of
something. Usually something, like, in a series, it has one, two, three, it has all the pieces
- together, it makes the complete set. Sometimes we talk about a group of people
as a set. "The intellectual set" means this is that group of people that are considered
the intellectuals. The wealthy set. Another good expression: "the jetsetters". "The jetsetters" are
generally the people who fly around in jets all over the world because they're rich,
and they create the trends. They're spending the money, they decide what is popular, what is
not popular, what is trendy, what is fashionable. They're the jetsetters. They go to... They
want to have dinner, a French dinner, they fly to Paris, have dinner, fly back home to
New York or wherever they are. Jetsetters. Now, adjectives. Have you ever watched the
Olympics or any race for that matter? And they... At the beginning, everybody lines up
and they say: "Ready", so everybody comes to the line. "Set", and they get into their
position. "Go". Right? So, "set" means get into position. I didn't actually put that.
But in essence, it means ready. Ready to do something. Right? Okay, and you
can say: -"Are you ready?" -"All set." This is another
very good expression. "All set" means I'm ready. I'm ready
to do whatever needs to be done. So you're going to do a test. Everybody sits
on their tables, everybody takes out their pencils and pens, papers, and the
teacher says: -"Okay, everybody ready?" -"Yeah. All set." -"Go.
Start your test." Now, you can also use "all
set" to mean satisfied. -"Can I get you anything else? Do you need a
coffee? Do you need a drink?" -"No. I'm all set." It means: "I'm good. I have everything I
need. I'm satisfied. Thank you very much." It also means that... Again, we're still looking
at adjectives, here. It also means standard or common. So, for example, "a set
expression". Sometimes people ask me: "Oh, why do people say this or
that in English?" And I say: "Well, there's no real reason to." Like: "Why do people
say 'all set'?" Well, it's just a set expression. It doesn't have any particular meaning. That's just what people say, and
they always say it the same way. Okay? Like people say: "To kill a bird with one stone",
this is an idiom. So, why those particular words? Well, it's just a set idiom, it's a
set expression. It's already been decided, it's become common in use
- that's how it stays. Unmoving. Now... I hope you can see that.
"To be set in one's ways". If something is set, means it's not moving, it's not
budging, it's not going to change. So, if I am set in my ways, means I have my beliefs, I have
my values, you're not going to change me. I'm very stubborn. Okay? That's a synonym
to "set in one's ways". Unmoving, you can't convince it, you can't persuade
it to do something different. And, lastly: fixed or something is fixed or
decided on already. So, for example, the annual conference is on a set date and time every
year. Every year, it's on December 3rd in the evening. It's set. Excuse me. It's fixed.
It's not going to be changing. So, it's a little bit different from unmoving. "Unmoving"
means you can be convinced or persuaded; whereas "fixed" means it's decided, it's not going
to change, it's always going to be the same. Okay? You can also... You can have a set schedule,
you can have a set itinerary. It means it's been decided, it's been planned, no more changing
it. Okay? And, again, we're using it as an adjective to talk
about something else. So, there are the many meanings of the word "set".
I know it's a little bit of a confusing word. We have a lot of words like this in English,
but you'll get to them one at a time, slowly but surely. If you need to practice these
words, go to www.engvid.com. There's a quiz there. You can also ask me
questions; I'll be very happy to help you out. Subscribe to my YouTube channel,
and come back again soon. Bye.
