Learn English: 30 Common Commands

Hey, everyone. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to

this lesson on 30 common Imperatives that you can use in

your daily life. So, for this video, I wanted to focus on the

short phrases we hear everywhere. So, these are

phrases you will hear at the bank, at the grocery store, in

your own home, in movies, on television, anywhere you can

think of -- we use these short, brief imperatives.

Now, before I begin, I want to mention: This is different than

the 30 Phrasal Verb Commands video that I made in the past.

If you enjoy this video and you want to hear some other

imperatives, some other commands that you can use in English, but

which are a little more challenging because they have an

idiomatic element to it -- check out the link attached to this

video for 30 Phrasal Verb Commands. This is 30 Imperatives

for Daily Life; there will be very little idiomatic language

in this. It's very clear what each word means. Okay?

So, let's start. Let's do it. Let's go. Ah, those are two of

the first imperatives. So: "Let's do it. Why not? Let's

go." So, you know what this means. If you're leaving on a

trip, someone will say: "Come on. Let's go." Or: "Let's do

it." -"Do you guys want to go for lunch?" -"Yeah, let's do

it." So, "let's" is, like, "let us". It's inviting everyone.

Right? It's making a suggestion to: "Let's do it. Let's go.

Let's leave. Let's make this happen."

Next: "Come here." Now, this, obviously, you can use in a lot

of different contexts; specifically with children, or

with people in your daily life, other adults, other teenagers,

other 20-somethings. So, you can say: "Hey. Come here." Right?

You're there. I want you to come this way. So: "Come here."

Next: If you're at a restaurant, the person who you meet at this

at the entrance to the restaurant or the server might

say: "Follow me." It means, like: "Come with me." Now, they

might also say: "Come this way, please." Or: "Come right this

way." You can... You don't have to say: "Come" in this situation

necessarily. You could say: "Come this way", or "Come right

this way." But you can also say or you might also hear: "This

way, please." The implication is: "Follow me." Or: "Right this

way", which means: "Come this way. Come. Follow me." All

right. So, next time you're at a restaurant and you hear: "Right

this way", you won't feel confused. Right? Or you hear:

"This way, please", or "Follow me", you will know what it

means. It means: "Come in this direction with me."

Next: "Keep doing what you're doing." Okay? So, if someone is

working on something and they're doing a good job on it, you want

to encourage them or you want them to continue in the same

manner, in the same way - you can say: "Yeah, just keep doing

what you're doing." Okay?

Next: "Keep going." This means, again: "Continue. Just continue

moving forward. Keep going." So, this could be, you know, you're

telling a person, if... Who's driving and you're in the

passenger seat, and they say: "Do I turn left? Do I turn

right?" Then you say: "No, no, no. Keep going. Keep going."

Okay? Like: "Continue driving straight." Okay?

Next: "Wait." Okay? So: "Wait", this just means: "Stop where you

are." And you can say: "Wait here. Wait there." You might

hear this in a doctor's office or a dentist's office, probably

with a "please" at the end of it or at the beginning of it. So:

"Please wait here. Wait here, please. Please wait over there."

Okay? Or: "Please wait." And... You know, in that room.

Next: "Hold it." Okay. So: "Hold it" has... I put an asterisk

because it has a couple of different contexts. One: "Hold

it" can mean: "Whoa. Stop. Wait. Hold it. I don't understand

what's going on or I'm confused." Or what you said is

really, like, shocking to me or interesting, and you say: "Whoa,

whoa. Hold it. Wait. Stop." Okay?

Now, "Hold it" can also mean literally, like: "Here, hold

this. Holdmeans like, if you have a phone and you say: "Oh,

hold on a sec. I need to do something." And you can say:

"Can you hold this for a second? Hold this, hold it." Or: "Hold

the elevator." This means, like... You know, a person is

coming and they might say: -"Hold the elevator." -"Oh,

okay. I'm going to hold the elevator for the person."

Next: "Stay still.", "Stand still.", "Don't move.", "Stay

right there." These are all different ways to say: "Don't

move." Okay? It's like: "Stay still." Maybe you're in a

situation where you're on safari and you're trying to see an

animal. Or you're in a forest, and you see a bird and you don't

want the bird to fly away, so you tell your friend who is with

you... You have a camera and you say: "Shh, shh, shh. Stand

still. Stay still. Don't move. You will scare the bird away. I

want to get a good picture." Or: "Stay right there." Okay? So,

you're telling people, commanding people to just stop

moving in this situation.

Next: "Try again. Why don't you try again?" Okay? Or: "Try one

more time." So, maybe you're sending an email, and for some

reason, the email bounces back or the email doesn't, you

know... Doesn't get sent properly. You might tell your

friend: "Something's wrong with the WiFi. So, try again. Maybe

it will work now. Try one more time." You can also say: "Stop

right there." So, this is similar to, again: "Don't move."

But if someone's coming your way and you say: "Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Stop right there." Okay?

Next: "How about try it?" Right? So, you can... You can tell

someone who... You know, there's a new food or something, and you

just want to want to tell them to sample it, you can say: "Try

it. Why not?" Right? "It might be good. You might like it." You

can also use: "Try it" to talk about activities. "Try it."

"Help me". "Help" is a very useful imperative. Right? So, if

you're carrying something heavy: "Can you help me?" Or: "Help me,

please." All right? Or: "Help him.", "Help her." If you're a

teacher, you could say to one student: "Oh. You're done?

Vanessa, help him please." Or: "Help Katie, please." Right? So,

you hear this all the time. "Help that person.", "Help

her.", "Help me."

"Give it to me.", "Give it to her." "Give it to him." So, this

means: Pass what you have to someone else. So, maybe I need a

pencil and you say: "Get me a pencil. Give it to me. Give it

to me." Right? "It's my turn" or "It's... I'm next". "I need what

you have. Give it to me, please." Or: "Please give it to

me." Okay.

Next: "Click, tap, or scroll". So, this is on your phone, on

your laptop, on your desktop computer, depending on if it's

touch or not--right?--you can say: "Click here. Oh, click

there. Tap here. Scroll there." Okay? So: "Scroll", you can also

use, you know: "Scroll left, scroll right, scroll up, scroll

down." Another one is: "Swipe". Right? "To swipe" is "twwsshh".

I don't have it written here, but it's a bonus. "S-w-i-p-e.

Swipe". Right? "Swipe right, swipe left", etc.

So, in the middle, we have: "Be quiet." Right? So, you want

people to turn down the volume in the room, like: "Shh, shh,

shh. Be quiet. Stop that. Stop it." Right? So, this is some...

Something that I say to my children very frequently, if

they are misbehaving or if they are fighting or arguing with

each other, like: "Girls, stop that. Stop it." Okay? So, a very

common imperative that you might hear. And in addition to: "Stop

that", say: "Ah, ah, ah. Don't do that." Okay? Or: "Don't do

it." So, here you're trying to discourage people from doing

something. Okay? "Don't do that." Right? "Stop walking up

the stairs", your... Well, they probably don't understand you,

maybe if they're a year-and-a-half old, they're a

baby. Right? "Don't do that. Stop that." Okay.

Very common: "Be careful." It's, like, you're walking somewhere

and maybe the road is not very steady, is not very stable and

you know this road and you know this sidewalk that you're

walking with your friend - you tell your friend: "Hey, hey. Be

careful here." So: "Be careful" means: "Pay attention", which is

next. Right? "Pay attention. Focus your attention. Look

around. Identify any danger around you." Right? So: "Pay

attention. Don't lose your focus."

Next we have: "Ask him, ask her, ask them. Ask your teacher."

Right? So: "Why don't you ask that person? If you are in a

theme park--right?--or you're in a grocery store, and you don't

know where something is, you say: "Hey. Where's that big

monster ride? Or whatever, rollercoaster that I'm looking

for?" And you see someone who works in the park and you say:

"Excuse me? Where's that?" Your friend will tell you: "Oh, ask

him. He knows. He knows where that is." Or: "Maybe she knows

where that is." Right? So: "Ask". Very useful.

Next: "Let go. Let go of that. Let go of it". "Let go" means to

release something. So, something is like, you know, clenched in

your hand, or you're holding something and the person...

Someone else will say: "Let go. Let go of it. Let go of that."

Right? So, you're holding something and your friend wants

it, someone in your family wants it, and they say: "Come on, let

go. Let go of that. Let go of it."

"Leave it." Okay? So, this means: "Don't touch it." You can

say: "Leave it here. Leave it there. Leave it on the table."

Right? So, you can have a bottle, say: "Just leave it

there." Or if a friend comes to your house and they're carrying

a big bag, and they say: "Oh. Where can I put this?" And you

say: "Just leave it there. Put it in the corner." Right? So:

"Leave it in the corner."

And speaking of "put", it's right here: "Put". Right? So,

"put" is the act of, like, transporting the object into the

place. "Leave" just means, like: "Let it rest in that area."

Okay? So: "Leave it. Put it here. Put it there", etc. Now,

the little difference... The grammatical difference between

"leave it" and "put it" - "leave it" can stand on its own. You

can say: "Just leave it. Don't touch it." You can also say:

"Leave it here. Leave it there", etc. "Put it" - you can't just

say: "Put it"; you have to tell the person where to put it.

Right? So: "Put it here. Put it there. Put it on the top shelf",

wherever it may be.

So, those were 30 everyday imperatives that you can hear in

daily life that you can use now in daily life. Let's review them

one more time. You guys listen and repeat to practice the

pronunciation and to get this, you know, into your long-term

memory. Watch this video a few days from now, too, and it'll

stick better.

So, let's try. "Let's do it.", "Let's go.", "Come here.",

"Follow me.", "This way, please.", "Right this way.",

"Keep doing what you're doing.", "Keep going.", "Wait here.",

"Hold it.", "Stay still.", "Stand still.", "Don't move.",

"Stay right there.", "Be quiet.", "Stop that.", "Don't do

that."

Hey. There's an airplane flying over. "Be quiet." We're just

going to wait for it to fly by. Is it going to listen to me if I

say, like: "Be quiet"? Come on. Quiet. Okay. So: "Stop that".

Okay. "Go." All right.

"Don't do that." Listen and repeat. "Be careful.", "Pay

attention.", "Ask him.", "Let go of that.", "Leave it here.",

"Put it there."

Try one more time. "Stop right there.", "Try it.", "Help him.",

"Give it to me.", "Click here." Okay, perfect.

Now, if you'd like to test your understanding of this material,

please go to www.engvid.com and check out the quiz that is

attached to the video. So, click on that engVid link, go to

www.engvid.com, click on those answers. It's all multiple

choice,and let me know how you do on the quiz. And if you want

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