'Set' Phrasal Verbs
I’m back with another episode in the series on phrasal verbs. Today, we’re looking at around 9 phrasal verbs that include the verb ‘set’.
It’s a really common one to use and the meanings can get confusing, so I’m going to go through each one and explain the meaning, but also follow up with a story related to my life to give some context to help explain the phrasal verb.
9 Phrasal Verbs with 'Set'
Watch the full episode above to see how I use these phrasal verbs.
| Phrasal Verb | Meaning | Example Sentence |
| Set about | start to do something | “I set about recording a podcast.” |
| Set apart | be different or distinct from the rest | “My awkwardness sets me apart from others.“ |
| Set aside | keep for a specific reason | “It’s important to set aside money for emergencies.” |
| Set back | delay | “The rain set back my podcast plans.” |
| Set in | create an effect and continue | “Rainy season has finally set in.“ |
| Set off | begin a journey | “I set off for work at 6:30am” |
| Set off | trigger or cause something to happen | “Burning the toast set off the smoke alarm.” |
| Set out | aim or intend to do something | “I set out to discover why he stole it.“ |
| Set up | prepare or get ready | “I set up my microphone and laptop to record a podcast.” |
Thanks to learn-english-today.com for helping me research this topic today.
Try to make an example sentence and leave it in the comments!
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Hi Michael
I’ve been listening lately your phasal verbs podcasts serie and I have to say that they’re not the funniest or exciting ones but they are so useful to me !! I’m learning so much things I don’t even know how come I didn’t know them before
Particularly this one about “set” I’m surprised I didn’t know any of them apart one :0
Thanks you so much for that, thanks for making it as light and interesting as possible, you’re doing great thank you for the podcasts:)
I’m so happy to be sharing something useful for you! You’re right that perhaps not all episodes will be exciting, but if some can be useful, that’s great too. For the next Phrasal Verb episode, I’ll have to think of a way to make it extra fun.
Thanks for the podcast, this topic is especially useful as it’s very difficult to grasp the meaning of phrasal verbs without a context . Just after listening to this episode I have faced the phrase with “set out” in a book, but with different meaning. The phrase is “…Morita set out his views in a collection of essays…”. Turns out it has two meanings, by the Cambridge Dictionary the second one is “ to give the details of something or to explain it, especially in writing, in a clear, organized way”
Nice example, Yurii! Hopefully after this episode, you’ll start noticing ‘set’ phrasal verbs more and more. That’s a meaning I haven’t thought of before! I would say it’s not super common, so I wouldn’t teach it to a student unless they were more advanced, but obviously it is used. Thanks for sharing
Thank you!
Hey michael , i was setting up my area of work and listenning to your podcast as usual , great job simple and understood english for everyone , waiting for more episodes about business english
Have a nice day
Halima from Algeria
Appreciate that, Halima. Thanks for listening 🙂