Is it “step foot” or “set foot”?

In this midweek post I’m going to set the record straight about a saying that is often misused.

You might have heard someone say they are never going to set foot in a place again.

You might also have heard someone say they knew a place had a strange feeling as soon as they stepped foot in it.

So which is correct?

Although step foot is often used, set foot is actually the correct term and here’s a way to remember it.

When you use the word set it often comes with another word. You can set off somewhere or you might use the term ‘set down’ when you are talking about placing something down. For example, I set my phone down over there. Has anyone seen it? Or you can set the table or set up for a party. When you say set foot you’re talking about putting your foot somewhere. You’d need the word set to describe what you’re doing with your foot.

The word step means to place your foot down so if you followed the word step with the word foot, the foot part would be redundant. We don’t step with anything else other than our foot, whereas we can use set with several actions.

So you’d say:

I’m never setting foot in that restaurant again.

or

Before I set foot in another house, I’m going to look around for any signs of ghosts.

As usual, I hope you’ve found the post useful. Let me know if there are other phrases you’re unsure about. Maybe you know a phrase that is often misused or confused with another phrase. Feel free to leave me a comment.