Englishfor English speakers
the
Determiner
—
Used, instead of a, to reference something specific, already known to exist.
Compare "I read a book." and "I read the book."
—
Used with a stress, to show that the word following is special.
Are you the John Smith that I went to school with?
—
Used with an adjective that acts like a noun to mean all of the people concerned
The poor are always with us.
—
Used with superlatives forms of adjectives and adverbs.
You are the best.
set
Verb
—
If you set something somewhere, you put something into a place.
She sets the lamp on the floor.
I was setting glasses on the table when I heard a noise.
—
If you set something, you put it into some state or condition.
After changing the batteries, you have to set the clock again.
They set the house on fire
He sets the CD player to play.
The guard had never set a prisoner free before.
—
If you set something, you define it or to fix its value.
The teacher set a time limit of two minutes for this exercise.
The date for the exam was set to next Thursday.
The microwave was set to 400 watts.
—
If you set the table, you put dishes, forks and knives on it.
I set the table for five people, but only three came.
—
When the sun or moon sets, it moves toward the horizon.
The sun sets every evening.
—
If something sets, it dries and becomes solid.
The concrete needs to set before a car can drive on it.
This glue needs two hours to set.
set
Adjective
—
Something that is set is fixed. It cannot be changed easily.
Don't argue! The rules are set.
The time for the race is set.
—
To be ready for something.
Are you set?
set
Noun
—
The set is the scenery for a theatrical work such as a play, ballet, musical, etc.
The Metropolitan Opera's set for Aida is spectacular.
I was painting a wall on the set when the director arrived.
—
A set is a group of things that are similar or can be used together.
This chess set is too expensive to play chess with it.
I have a set of porcelain figurines depicting characters from Shakespeare's plays.
—
A set is a group of things, where every single one of them has a certain purpose. All of them are needed to perform a certain operation.
To play poker, you need a set of playing cards and chips.
A mason has a set of tools.
—
Persons that have something in common may be called a set.
That rich chick is a member of the Jet Set.
Girls who wear sweaters on Wednesday in my school belong to the sweater set.
The Long Island Horsey Set plays polo on weekends.
—
A set is a machine which gets radio or television programs.
This television set is broken.
This radio set can receive programs from Australia.
—
In many sports, a number of sets make up a game. An example of this would be in tennis or table tennis.
The tennis player won the first two sets, but lost the game.
of
Preposition
—
Made using.
It is a house of cards.
cards
—
noun
a game played with playing cards
in
Preposition
—
Used to show that something is inside something else.
The cat is in the box.
—
Used to show that someone is at home, or is available.
Is John in?
The Doctor is now in.
—
Used to show movement towards the inside.
The rain came in through the window.
hand
Noun
—
Your hands are the parts of your body at the end of your arms. A hand has four fingers and a thumb.
Mother, I'm afraid, please hold my hand.
—
Clock hands are pointed needles that show what time it is.
The long hand is pointing to the 4, which refers to how many hours have passed. The short hand is pointing to the 7, which refers to how many groups of 5 minutes have passed. The time is therefore 4:35.
hand
Verb
—
If I hand you something, I give it to you.
Please hand me that tool. I can't reach it.