set a penalty

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "set a penalty" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used in contexts where rules or consequences are being established, particularly in legal, academic, or organizational settings. Example: "The committee decided to set a penalty for late submissions to encourage timely work."

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Academia

Science

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

4 human-written examples

Set a penalty clause if doing extensive work – say, £500 a week – should the work overrun an agreed deadline.

The Guardian - Money

But if the express provision of judicial review in one section ofa long and complicated statute were alone enough to over-come the APA's presumption of reviewability for all final agency action, it would not be much of a presumption at all. 1 The original statute set a penalty cap of $25,000 per violation per day.

Cornell University

In addition, British regulators imposed their own fine of $903,176 on Mr. Coscia, while the Chicago Mercantile Exchange set a penalty of $2.1 million on Panther Energy and Mr. Coscia, who was also banned from trading on its exchanges for six months.

The New York Times

Set a goal and set a penalty.

Forbes

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

56 human-written examples

A court in Mannheim, Germany, ruled in February 2009 against HTC in a patent fight with IPCom, allowing an injunction against sales of HTC phones using UMTS technology and setting a penalty of up to €250,000 (£216,000) each time the injunction was contravened.

The Guardian - Tech

We have set a qualitative penalty scheme that differentiates the various types of mismatch, described as follows (see Fig. 5).

Journal of Cheminformatics

It would extend the window for bringing an enforcement case against illegal robocalling operations from one year to three years, and would set a maximum penalty of $10,000 per call for illegal robocallers.

Forbes

We also set a high penalty value for losing a species (value 3, in SITES species.dat file), so that the final solution for each conservation scenario included all species.

Plosone

Another useful feature provided by novoalign is the ability to set a lower penalty for alignment when a 'chimeric' paired read maps to two sequences that are part of the same gene.

Human Molecular Genetics

Whatever the case might have been, there is a riveting conclusion that ganders coldly in our eyes: there is an urgent need to set a death-penalty, or a similarly punitive penalty, for men or women who murder under the name of honor.

Huffington Post

Jackson actually had a solid first full season anyway, even if his team did set a new N.F.L. penalty record.

The New York Times

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When drafting contracts, always be specific about how the "set a penalty" will be calculated or applied to avoid ambiguity and potential disputes.

Common error

Avoid setting a penalty that is disproportionate to the violation. Ensure the "set a penalty" aligns with the severity of the infraction to maintain fairness and credibility.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "set a penalty" primarily functions as a verb phrase, indicating the action of establishing or determining a consequence for a specific action or behavior. Ludwig AI confirms this usage is grammatically sound.

Expression frequency: Rare

Frequent in

News & Media

37%

Academia

20%

Science

26%

Less common in

Wiki

11%

Formal & Business

3%

Reference

3%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, the phrase "set a penalty" is a grammatically correct and usable expression to indicate the act of establishing a consequence for an action. Though not as common as alternatives like "impose a penalty", it appears in various contexts, especially in news, academic, and scientific sources. According to Ludwig AI, the phrase is perfectly acceptable. When using "set a penalty", ensure that the penalty is clearly defined and proportionate to the infraction to avoid ambiguity and maintain fairness. Related options include "impose a sanction" and "establish consequences".

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

impose a sanction

Replaces "penalty" with "sanction", suggesting a more formal punishment.

establish consequences

Uses broader terms to encompass the idea of setting a penalty.

define repercussions

Replaces "set" with "define" and "penalty" with "repercussions" which makes the phrase sound more formal.

determine punishments

Uses "punishments" instead of "penalty", focusing on punitive actions.

apply a fine

Specifies a monetary penalty, focusing on financial consequences.

assign a punishment

Emphasizes the act of assigning a penalty.

lay down a sanction

Uses a more figurative expression for establishing a penalty.

decree a forfeiture

Implies a loss of something as a penalty, like property or rights.

stipulate a forfeit

Emphasizes a contractual or agreed-upon loss as a consequence.

institute punitive measures

Replaces "penalty" with a more general term referring to actions taken as punishment.

FAQs

How to use "set a penalty" in a sentence?

You can use "set a penalty" to describe the act of establishing consequences for specific actions. For example, "The committee decided to set a penalty for late submissions to encourage timely work."

What can I say instead of "set a penalty"?

You can use alternatives like "impose a sanction", "establish consequences", or "determine punishments" depending on the context.

Which is correct, "set a penalty" or "impose a penalty"?

Both "set a penalty" and "impose a penalty" are correct and usable. The choice often depends on the specific context and desired tone. "Impose a penalty" might sound slightly more formal.

What's the difference between "set a penalty" and "define repercussions"?

"Set a penalty" is more straightforward, while "define repercussions" is a more formal way of saying the same thing. Repercussions often imply a broader range of potential consequences.