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Phrasal verbs with set are an important part of English, helping you express ideas clearly and naturally. The phrasal verbs with “set” are especially useful because they appear in daily conversations, writing, and news, with several common meanings such as start, begin, prepare, delay, and trigger. In this lesson, you’ll learn the most useful set phrasal verbs with pronunciation, meanings, examples, and grammar notes so you can use them with confidence.
As you learn each item, notice whether it is transitive (needs an object) or intransitive (no object), and whether it is separable or inseparable.
List of Common Phrasal Verbs with SET
- Set about
- Set aside
- Set back
- Set down
- Set forth
- Set in
- Set off
- Set on
- Set out
- Set up
- Set upon
List of Common Phrasal Verbs with SET (Meaning, Examples, Grammar)
Set about
🔊 Pronunciation: /sɛt əˈbaʊt/
📖 Meaning:
- To start doing something in a determined way
📝 Example: He set about cleaning the house before his guests arrived.
💡 Grammar Note:
- Type: Transitive (often followed by V-ing)
- Structure: Inseparable
🔄 Synonyms: Begin, Start, Get down to
Set aside
🔊 Pronunciation: /sɛt əˈsaɪd/
📖 Meaning:
- To save or reserve something for a specific purpose
- To ignore or not consider something temporarily (e.g., a disagreement)
📝 Example: She set aside part of her salary to pay for a short course.
💡 Grammar Note:
- Type: Transitive
- Structure: Separable
🔄 Synonyms: Save, Reserve, Put away
Set back
🔊 Pronunciation: /sɛt bæk/
📖 Meaning:
- To delay progress or make something happen later than planned
- To cost someone a particular amount of money (informal)
- To be positioned farther back than something else (often passive: “be set back”)
📝 Example (delay): The storm set back the construction schedule by two weeks.
📝 Example (cost): Fixing the leaking roof set us back $500.
📝 Example (position): The house is set back from the road, with a long driveway.
💡 Grammar Note:
- Type: Transitive (delay/cost), or Passive usage (position)
- Structure: Separable (delay/cost)
🔄 Synonyms: Delay, Hold back, Cost
Set down
🔊 Pronunciation: /sɛt daʊn/
📖 Meaning:
- To write something officially or clearly
- To put something down on a surface
📝 Example: The guidelines are set down in the company handbook.
💡 Grammar Note:
- Type: Transitive
- Structure: Separable
🔄 Synonyms: Record, Write down, Put down
Set forth
🔊 Pronunciation: /sɛt fɔːrθ/
📖 Meaning:
- To begin a journey (formal)
- To state ideas, facts, or arguments in an organized way (formal)
📝 Example: The report sets forth a clear plan for improving customer service.
💡 Grammar Note:
- Type: Intransitive (journey) / Transitive (state ideas)
- Structure: Inseparable
🔄 Synonyms: Present, Explain, Lay out
Set in
🔊 Pronunciation: /sɛt ɪn/
📖 Meaning:
- To begin and seem likely to continue (often used for negative or hard-to-stop situations)
📝 Example: After the sudden power cut, panic set in.
📝 Example: Winter has set in, and the nights are getting colder.
💡 Grammar Note:
- Type: Intransitive
- Structure: Inseparable
🔄 Synonyms: Begin, Take hold, Start
Set off
🔊 Pronunciation: /sɛt ɔːf/
📖 Meaning:
- To start a journey
- To trigger an alarm, reaction, or event
- To cause an explosion (set off a bomb)
- To make someone react emotionally (informal)
- To make something look better by contrast (often: “set off” colors)
📝 Example (journey): We set off early to avoid traffic.
📝 Example (trigger): The smoke set off the fire alarm.
📝 Separable example (trigger): The smoke set the fire alarm off.
📝 Example (explosion): The group set off a small device near the empty building.
📝 Example (emotion): His rude comment set her off.
📝 Example (contrast): The dark frame sets off the bright artwork.
💡 Grammar Note:
- Type: Intransitive (journey) / Transitive (trigger/cause/contrast)
- Structure: Separable (trigger/cause/contrast)
🔄 Synonyms: Start out, Trigger, Activate
Set on
🔊 Pronunciation: /sɛt ɒn/
📖 Meaning:
- To make a person or animal attack someone
- To begin attacking someone (often used in the passive form: be set on)
📝 Example: The guard set the dog on the intruder.
💡 Grammar Note:
- Type: Transitive
- Structure: Obligatorily separable (the object must be placed between set and on)
- Note: You cannot say “set on the dog”. It must be “set the dog on”.
🔄 Synonyms: Unleash, Turn on, Sic
Set out
🔊 Pronunciation: /sɛt aʊt/
📖 Meaning:
- To start a journey or leave a place
- To start a task with a goal in mind
- To explain or present ideas clearly (often: set out a plan/rules)
📝 Example (journey): They set out on a road trip last summer.
📝 Example (goal): She set out to improve her English pronunciation.
📝 Example (explain): The handbook sets out the rules for new employees.
💡 Grammar Note:
- Type: Intransitive (journey/goal) / Transitive (explain)
- Structure: Inseparable (journey/goal) / Separable (explain)
🔄 Synonyms: Start out, Aim, Lay out
Set up
🔊 Pronunciation: /sɛt ʌp/
📖 Meaning:
- To arrange or prepare something for use
- To establish or start something (a business, a department, a fund)
- To trick someone by creating a situation that makes them look guilty or foolish
- To arrange a trap/sting operation (often: “set up a sting”)
📝 Example (prepare): The team set up the meeting room before the presentation.
📝 Example (establish): They set up a new branch to expand into the city.
📝 Example (fund): She set up a scholarship fund for local students.
📝 Example (trick): He claimed someone set him up to take the blame.
📝 Example (sting): The police set up a sting operation to catch the suspect.
💡 Grammar Note:
- Type: Transitive
- Structure: Separable
🔄 Synonyms: Arrange, Establish, Frame
Set upon
🔊 Pronunciation: /sɛt əˈpɒn/
📖 Meaning:
- To attack someone suddenly (more formal than “set on”)
📝 Example: A group of thieves set upon him in a quiet street.
💡 Grammar Note:
- Type: Transitive (always needs an object).
- Structure: Inseparable (The object always comes after ‘upon’).
🔄 Synonyms: Attack, Assault, Ambush
Dialogue Examples with Phrasal Verbs with SET
A: We should set out early tomorrow. The traffic could set back our schedule.
B: Good idea. I’ll set up the route on my phone and set aside some snacks for the trip.
A: Perfect. Once winter sets in, roads can get dangerous.
B: True. Let’s not set off the alarm this time—last trip, the smoke from our camp stove set it off!
Exercises with Answers
Fill in the Blanks
- We __________ early so we could reach the station before sunrise.
- The sudden delay __________ our project by a week.
- Please __________ your ideas clearly in your report.
- After the bad news, fear began to __________.
- The manager decided to __________ a small budget for training.
- The smoke __________ the fire alarm, and everyone had to leave the building.
- They plan to __________ a new online store next month.
- The owner threatened to __________ the dog __________ any intruder.
Answer Key
- set out
- set back
- set down
- set in
- set aside
- set off
- set up
- set; on
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
1) Are “set out” and “set off” the same?
They are similar because both can mean “begin a journey,” but set off is more common in everyday speech, while set out can sound slightly more formal and is also common for “start a task/goal” (set out to do something).
2) Can I separate “set up” and “set off”?
Yes. Set up and set off are often separable when they take an object.
Examples: “Set the equipment up.” / “Set the alarm off.”
3) Is “set in” transitive?
No. Set in is intransitive and usually describes situations like weather, panic, fatigue, or illness that begin and continue.
Conclusion
These phrasal verbs with set will help you sound more natural and confident in English. Keep practicing them in short sentences, and pay attention to transitive vs. intransitive and separable vs. inseparable patterns.
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