multi-word verb phrase · neutral
set the scene
/ˌsɛt ðə ˈsiːn/set·the·SCENE
to describe the background or circumstances so that people understand what happens next
Examples
“The first paragraph sets the scene by explaining the city's history.”
“In her talk she set the scene before going into the technical details.”
“A short anecdote at the start helps to set the scene for the reader.”
Band 8 sentence
“Before analysing the statistics, the report carefully sets the scene by outlining recent policy changes that affected the data.”
Collocations
- set the scene for
- help set the scene
Word family
Common mistakes
set scene→set the scene
set a scene→set the scene
Say it for a higher band
5talk about→6introduce→7+set the scene
Synonyms
introduce
provide background
Easily confused
introduce
“The lecturer introduced the topic before going into the data.”
provide background
“The author provided background on the country's economy.”
Related words
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In set …
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