The verb sit undergoes a slight change with the change of tense or time. “I sit at the window today.” “I sat at the window yesterday.” “I have sat at the window daily for many years.” “Sitting at the window, I saw the storm arise.” “Having sat at his table, I can testify to his hospitality.”
The transitive verb set undergoes no tense changes. “See me set this vase on the table.” “He set his seal to the paper yesterday.” “Jones will not set the world on fire with his writings.” “Having set my affairs in order, I returned home.” “I sit down.” “I sat down.” “I set him down.”
There are many intransitive uses of the verb set; as, “The sun sets,” “The tide sets toward the south,” “The fruit has set,” “He set out for Boston.”
There is a difference of opinion as to whether we should say “The coat sets well” or “The coat sits well,” with the greater weight in favor of sits. “The hen sits on her eggs.” “She is a sitting hen.” When the verb is used reflexively use set and not sat; as, “I set me down beside her,” not “I sat me down beside her.”
Anyhow
This word can scarcely be regarded as elegant, and should not be used except in colloquial style.
Awful
Few words among the many that go to make up the vocabulary of American slang have been in longer use and have a wider range than the word awful. From the loftiest and most awe-inspiring themes to the commonest trifle, this much-abused word has been employed. A correct speaker or writer almost fears to use the word lest he should suggest the idea of slang, and thus detract from the subject to which the word might most fitly be applied.
Even the grammatical form of the word is often violated in such expressions as “Isn’t he awful nice?” “That hat of hers is awful pretty.” To say awfully nice and awfully pretty would improve the grammar, but the gross vulgarism remains.
The word, when properly used, means “inspiring with awe or dread” often accompanied with reverence, as when Milton says: