Sound more natural in English: 10 informal commands

Hey, everyone.

Ah!

Ugh.

Ugh, okay.

I should have watched my step.

Okay, let's try that again.

Hey, everyone.

I'm Alex.

Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on "Informal Imperatives".

What is an imperative?

It's a call to action, it's a command.

It's basically a base verb, like: "Stop", "Don't do that", "Watch out".

Today we're going to look at a bunch of these expressions, and they're going to be informal

in nature.

And I'm going to give you the informal way to use the command and expression, and then

tell you the more standard way that you can, you know, use this expression as well.

So, you'll be getting double the knowledge, double the fun today.

And hopefully I can get through this lesson without falling on my rear end, we'll say.

Okay, first one: "Cut it out!"

"Cut it out" just means: "Stop it."

Okay?

So, if someone is, for example, like, tickling you and you're laughing, like: "Oh, stop,

stop, stop.

Cut it out.

Cut it out.

Cut it out."

This means: "Stop.

I don't like what you're doing.

Cut it out.

Stop."

If you're a parent, you might say this to your kids.

If your kids are, you know, fighting with each other and you just want them to stop,

say: "Cut it out.

Stop.

Don't do that."

Okay?

Next: "Get lost!"

This is very rude, very strong.

It's a way to tell someone to go away.

"Leave me alone."

So: "Go away.

Leave me alone."

Or: "Get lost.

I don't care where you go, you can get lost in a forest somewhere or on a highway.

It doesn't matter, just leave me alone."

Okay?

So: "Get lost!"

Next: "Sleep tight."

This is more for parents I think, so if you say: "Sleep tight" to someone, this means:

"Sleep well.

Have a good night.

Enjoy your sleep."

Okay?

So usually this is parents to kids who might say this, but if you ever see it on TV or

something like that, you know, you will understand what "Sleep tight" means.

Next: "Chill out!"

So: "Chill out!", "Calm down!"

Maybe you're more familiar with: "Calm down!" or "Relax!"

Okay?

So, "to chill" means to cool something, so you can chill a beverage, chill a drink in

the fridge or in some ice.

You can chill wine if you go to a restaurant in, like, a bucket with ice.

So, to chill out, like: "You're...

You're too intense.

Just chill out, calm down, relax."

Next: "Dig in".

In this context, basically you're sitting at a table for dinner, for lunch, and everyone's

sitting down and they're doing the polite thing where they wait for everyone else to

sit to get ready to eat.

When everyone's ready, okay, in French you would say: "Bon appetit"; in English, you

can say: "Dig in".

"To dig" is to do this with a shovel, so you're digging in usually with a fork or a spoon

on this...

In this part of the world.

So: "Dig in.

Start eating.

You can eat."

Next: "Watch your step", like me.

"Be careful where you are walking."

So, if you're walking with a friend and you're talking on the street and your friend sees

some, let's say dog poo...

Okay?

Your friend sees some dog poo on the...

On the sidewalk, says: -"Whoa, whoa.

Watch your step."

-"Oh, I should watch where I'm walking."

Or maybe there's a little hole in the ground, so: "Watch your step."

Okay?

Next: "Quit your moaning."

This means: "Stop complaining."

Moaning is basically this kind of sound, like: "Mmm.

Mmm.

Emm."

And you're always complaining, you're not happy with your life or your situation, and

your friend might tell you: "Quit your moaning.

Stop complaining."

So, informally: "Stop complaining."

Sorry, standard language or formal...

Not really formal, it's just standard: "Stop complaining."

Informal: "Quit your moaning."

Okay?

Next: "Hang in there."

Okay?

This means: "Don't give up.

I know life is difficult, I know that you didn't get that job after the job interview,

but hang in there.

Don't give up."

So: "hang", when you grab onto something and you hold on, you're hanging onto it, so: "Hang

in there.

Don't give up.

Good things will happen."

Next: "Whoa, whoa.

Hold your horses."

Err, hold them back.

So, if you're telling someone to hold their horses...

Hold your horses: "Wait.

Stop.

Slow down.

Don't get too excited.

Hold your horses."

Today a much more common, you know, way to say this, this one is a little bit older,

is: "Slow your roll."

This is very informal, so: "To slow your roll" also means to: "Wait, wait, stop.

Slow down.

Don't get too excited."

And finally: "Hold your tongue."

So, hold...

Hold...

Hold your...?

Yeah.

"Hold your tongue."

Stop talking, don't say anything.

This is informal, but you might also hear it in a show, like, Game of Thrones.

When I think of this expression, for some reason I think of, you know, somebody in a

high position, like a king, or a prince or a king just telling one of their lower people,

say: "Hold your tongue."

Okay?

Don't say anything.

Don't be rude.

So, before we finish off, let's go over these one more time, and this time you guys say

them with me.

So, repeat: "Cut it out!"

Now do the hand motion: "Cut it out."

Full House reference for you older people watching this.

And for younger people, you have I think Fuller House on Netflix.

It depends when you're watching this.

Next, repeat after me: "Get lost!"

Do the hand motion: "Get lost!"

Hopefully no one on the bus or in the computer lab, like, laughed at you or looked at you

weird.

Next: "Sleep tight.", "Chill out!", "Dig in.", "Watch your step.", "Quit your moaning.",

"Hang in there.", "Hold your horses.", "Slow your roll.", "Hold your tongue."

All right, so finally, if you'd like to test your understanding of this material, as always,

you can check out the quiz on www.engvid.com.

Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel, check me out on Facebook, check me out on

Twitter, and pretty sure that's it.

Yeah.

So, subscribe to the channel, check out more videos.

And until next time, thanks for clicking.

See you.