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  • 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.

Hi. Welcome back to www.engvid.com. I'm Adam. Today's lesson is about the word "set".

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