Free English Class! 🏃🧍🏾 Topic: Commands and Orders (Lesson Only)

Well hello and welcome to this free English class. This free

English lesson where I'm going to talk about commands, orders

and requests in English. I'm going to talk about the things

you need to say when you tell other people what to do. It

might seem obvious that because I'm a teacher I use a lot of

phrases like this. I'm often telling people what to do. Um

but we'll look at ways to rudely tell someone what to do.

We'll look at how to tell your dog what to do. We'll look at

how to other people what to do kindly. How to use it the

phrases as a request. So welcome to this English lesson

about commands orders and requests. Um we will be using

what's called the imperative verb form. The imperative verb

form is when you tell someone what to do using just the verb

and there's usually an exclamation mark at the end of

the sentence. So the first phrase I have is the phrase get

out. By the way I think three or four of the slides today are

just someone pointing and yelling. Uh when you give a

command in English you're often raising your voice a little bit

if you're saying it in anger or if you are feeling emotional at

the time. When you say get out it implies that you are inside

somewhere probably in a building. You can even be like

in a backyard. So you're not technically inside but there's

a fence around you. Uh and if a dog came in your yard. You

might say get out. Um you might even say get out of here. Okay.

Maybe you're watching a TV show and there's a fight at

someone's house and one person says to the person who's

visiting get out or get out of here. Uh that kind of behaviour

is not welcome here. So get out. Um it isn't always

something that you say angry in an angry way. But it I think it

can be definitely for sure. Like I'm imagining a scene I

saw on a TV show the other night where someone was yelling

get out to someone in a bar and that's how I got the idea for

this lesson. And they were definitely angry. We also can

say things like keep out. Although normally it's a sign

that tells you this. If you see the words keep out it means

don't go in because it's probably dangerous. Sometimes

you'll see a sign on a fence that says keep out. We also

sometimes will use this as a teacher. I might say you know

this you're not supposed to go in this room so keep out. Uh

maybe there's a room where we have all the textbooks or all

the computers and students aren't allowed in there. So we

would tell them to keep out. Basically what that means is do

not go in. But it's used as a command or an order. Um another

phrase similar to get out is get lost. This is a little more

like slang. Um although it's very common in informal English

speech. Uh when you say to someone get lost or let's say

an animal like this. I think this is a wolf or a fox. Looks

like a wolf. If I saw a animal like this I would probably yell

get lost or get out of here. Get lost. So basically when

you're lost you don't know where you are. And this command

is used to tell someone or an animal that you want them to go

away. You want them to leave and then not come back. So in a

way you want them to be lost and not return. Get lost. Um

let's see here. Stop it and quit it. So these two are

commands or orders that parents often give to children when

children are really excited and maybe making too much noise or

playing too loudly or if they're doing something

annoying. So a parent might say stop it or they might say quit

it. Um I usually use the phrase quit it. Um stop it I use as

well. By the way if you want to change it from a command to a

request. So a command is very direct. A request is a little

more polite. So if I wanted to make this a request I might say

stop it please. Um or quit it please. When you add the word

please it softens the command just a little bit and makes it

more of a request. If you are wondering what the difference

between a command and request was. So stop it and quit it. Uh

something you say to someone when they're doing something

that annoys you. Stop it. Quit it. So you might have

neighbours that play their music way too loud. You might

have neighbours that they come home from work everyday and

they just turn their radio up really loud. And if you knocked

on their door if you were angry you might say turn it down. Um

if you were talking to your children though if your

children were playing loud music you might say turn it

down please. Again adding the word please to soften things a

bit. Hey and a little bit the imperative. I should have

explained this at the beginning. The imperative is

simply the verb. So if you have the verb you know to stop. If

you remove the word to and you just yell stop. That's the

imperative form of the verb. It's one of the easiest verb

forms to conjugate because if you have a verb like if you

want to tell someone to go somewhere you just remove the

TO the two and you just say go. So it's a very simple verb form

when you want to give a command. But yes loud music

sometimes results in people saying turn it down. This one

is almost always said forcefully and maybe with a bit

of anger or frustration. There is no polite way to say shut

up. Okay? So when you yell shut up to someone it means you want

them to stop talking. It means you want them to stop talking

to you. Um it usually happens during a conversation when

people are arguing and when they get angry at each other

eventually one person might just say shut up. I'm tired of

listening to you. Just shut up. So shut up You can't say shut

up please. That doesn't make it that doesn't make it any nicer.

You can't add the word please to this command and make it

work better. Uh or sound a little softer or nicer.

Definitely when you say shut up it means that you are a little

bit upset or a little bit angry. Sometimes people are

very stressed. Sometimes people are they're very anxious or

they have a lot of anxiety. And if they sit down you might just

say you know relax. Maybe just relax. Maybe someone's angry

about something that happened in their day. You might just

say relax. Let's have a cup of tea and talk about it. So when

you give the command or it's actually more of a request I

think. Relax. You're usually calmly asking someone to just

take a deep breath maybe count to 10 and to try to stop being

angry or upset. Or at least be a little bit less angry. So

relax. Uh that's a great line by the way to say to someone

hey relax. Let's sit down and have a cup of tea and you can

tell me all about your day. So relax is definitely a command

where you're asking someone to be a little more calm. Watch

out and look out. So when you yell watch out or look out.

Usually someone maybe is in danger. Um maybe if you're at a

soccer game and you're standing on the sidelines and maybe

you're talking to someone beside you and the soccer ball

is coming towards your head people would yell watch out or

look out. Uh this guy thankfully he has a heart hat

on. So the hammer that is falling if it hits him it won't

hurt him. But if you saw this happening you would be you

would definitely be yelling watch out or look out. You

wouldn't be angry. You would just yell this because you are

concerned for the other person's safety. So watch out.

Or look out. And then hopefully they move quickly. And then the

danger is avoided. Slow down. Have you ever been in a car

with someone who drives too fast? Uh maybe you're driving

with one of your teenage children and you want to say

tell them that they're driving too fast you would say slow

down. Um so yes definitely when someone drives quickly when

someone makes you feel uncomfortable because they're

going too fast. You would probably tell them to slow

down. That would be the command that you would give them. Slow

down. And again if you add please slow down please. It

sounds a little sir. Um but you have to recognize too that when

you give commands and orders it means that either you're like a

parent or a teacher or an older person talking to a younger

person or maybe you're feeling angry or you're feeling

emotional. Um because it's very direct when you tell someone to

do something. Um because the most polite way to say it would

be could you slow down please when you drive this fast it

scares me a little bit. That would be very polite. And if

you said slow down that would be very angry. A lot more

emotion. So we have quiet quiet down be quiet. I put a picture

of a teacher. Uh this is a common phrase for teachers to

say again when you say quiet or when you say quiet down or when

you say be quiet it's somewhat forceful. If you wanted to

soften it you would say quiet please or quiet down please or

be quiet please. Um this adding the word please just makes

things so much nicer and calmer and polite in English. So if

you are in charge of some people or if you're somewhere

where there's a lot of people who are being kind of loud or

talking you could say quiet or quiet down or be quiet. Notice

how my voice gets a bit stronger. Quiet. And then quiet

please or quiet down please. Just a nicer way to say it.

Listen Up is a way to get people to listen to you. So if

you're standing with a large group of friends and there's a

lot of conversations maybe you're trying to decide with 10

people what movie to go see. And maybe you look on your

phone and you're like oh just a minute. Listen up. There's a

movie playing in 10 minutes just down the street. So when

you say listen up you're basically asking everyone to

Listen to you. You're asking them to give you their

attention. Um so I think that's a great example. Again often a

phrase that teachers would use. Listen up. We're going to go to

the library now and everyone needs to find a book. So it's

just a way to request that people listen to you when

you're having when you want them to stop talking and listen

to what you have to say. Sometimes the command is

actually a greeting or salutation or something you say

to someone. So sometimes when I'm leaving work I'll say hey

have a great day if it's the middle of the day. Um if I'm

talking to my mom on the phone in the morning I might say have

a great day. So it's an entire phrase and it's more it's not

so much of a like it is a command. It is the imperative.

It uses the verb to have. And we say have a great day. But

it's a very polite thing. It's more of it's more of a say I

think. Like have a great day. Hey have a great day. Nice

talking. Yesterday I talked to my friend in France and when we

were done talking I said have a great day. Okay because it was

the middle of the day. So sometimes you use the

imperative to wish someone well. Sometimes you use it to

encourage people. You might say keep going or don't stop. So

the second phrase here is our first use of don't with the

imperative when you put it into the negative. So for instance

if I was watching someone run a race and they were slowing

down. I might be like don't stop. Keep going. So I might

cheer them on. Maybe you're watching the Olympics right

now. And you're watching speed skating and the skater from

your country is going a little slow. You might be like no keep

going. Don't stop. And you would use the imperative to or

a command to cheer them on. You also might use the phrase go

for it. So this is used in a bunch of different ways. But it

basically is a command where you encourage someone to do

something or you tell them they're allowed to do

something. So the first example would be this. If a friend said

I'm thinking of applying for a job at Amazon. You might say

that sounds great. Go for it. That means that you agree that

it's a good idea and you think they should do it. Um I'm

thinking of watching Bob's livestream this morning. You

might say to someone oh good idea. Go for it. I have a lot

of fun. Here you'll that there are some boxes with donuts. If

I was giving out donuts and someone said can I take one I

might say go for it. So I'm giving them permission to do

it. So it can be used to encourage someone. If they say

they might do something or they're thinking about do

something if you say go for it. Um or it's a way to give

permission. Like may I have a donut? I could say sure or I

could say go for it. So here's one that I've mentioned during

the question session. Sit down and take a seat. These two

commands verb to sit and to take a seat is a is a verbal

phrase. Um both mean that you're talking to people who

are standing up and you're asking them to find a chair or

to sit on the floor. Uh and you're asking them to sit down.

Um teachers use this. Um if you go to a meeting maybe you go to

city hall and there's a meeting. Before the meeting

everyone is standing around talking. Someone might go to

the mic and go can I have everyone sit down please? Could

you sit down please? Um hey Could take a seat please. We're

going to start the meeting. So notice again adding the word

please softens it a bit and makes it kinder. Um but it's

definitely a way to ask people to sit down to find a chair and

sit in the chair or even to sit on the floor if that's what

you're doing. And then the opposite of course is stand up.

So maybe you are somewhere where a whole bunch of people

are sitting. And the person in charge needs everyone to stand

up. They would just say stand up. And again if you Wanted to

soften it and make it a little more polite you would say stand

up please. Uh I see in the chat from Yaroslav someone saying or

Yaroslav saying please be seated. That's definitely

another way to say it kindly. Find a seat please. Take a seat

please. Please be seated or sit down please. All of those are

common ways. Um and again the example of if a meeting is

starting that's what you would hear. Great addition Yaroslav.

Help. So this person is fine by the way. This is a picture of a

person swimming and they're doing they're they're fine.

They they're just yelling help. Because they want someone to

help them. So this is something that you yell when you are in

danger. So let's say you fall down and you hurt your leg and

you can't get up. You would yell help. Let's say you're

swimming and you don't know how to swim and you're sinking. You

would yell help. Well you need to have your head above water.

Do that of course. Um but definitely this is the short

and quick way to let someone know that you need assistance.

You need someone to come and help you. So you would yell

help. Um Another negative version of a command is the

don't forget phrase. Sometimes in life you go to do something

and you forget what you were supposed to do. So sometimes

Jen for instance will text me and say don't forget to go to

the grocery store. Don't forget to get the mail. Don't forget

to pick up some milk. So the don't forget command is used to

remind someone. When students leave my class I'll say don't

forget to do your homework don't forget to finish your

project. Don't forget to finish your assignment. So the don't

forget to format even though it's the negative. Basically

it's a way to remind people that they need to do something.

Don't forget to watch my video on Tuesday. Don't forget to

watch this video again in a couple of days. See I'm using

it right there. Don't be late. Another negative form of a

command. You're telling people that instead of Be on time.

That would be the reverse. The affirmative or positive version

right? Be on time tomorrow. You could also say don't be late

tomorrow. So again a command telling people make sure that

you arrive somewhere at the time when you are supposed to

be there. Don't be late. Be on time. Just need a little sip of

water here. If you wanted to give me a command to drink you

would say take a drink or take a sip of water. Um Don't move.

So you'll hear this phrase quite often on police shows.

Sometimes when the police arrest someone the person will

be running away and the the police will pull out their gun

and they'll say don't move. And then they'll arrest the person.

But we also say this to people sometimes when we see a

mosquito land on them. And we want to swat the mosquito. We

might say oh don't move. And then we'll swat the mosquito.

When I sit around a campfire with my family sometimes Jen or

my sister or somebody will all of the sudden say don't move

Bob. And then all of a sudden whack and then they'll have hit

or swatted the mosquitoes. So don't move is a command you use

to tell people not to move maybe to swat a bug that's on

or for another reason. Um there's could be a variety of

them. So you might be familiar with this phrase because you

hear this often in a restaurant in English when the waiter or

waitress brings you your food. They will say enjoy your meal.

They will say here you go. Enjoy your meal and they will

give you your food. So it's just a very polite command.

Again it's the to enjoy. But it's used to kind of wish

someone well at a restaurant. So enjoy your meal. Thanks for

coming. Here's your food. Enjoy your meal. So they want you to

have a good time eating. A good time talking with your friends.

And just a nice time at the restaurant where you're at. So

enjoy your meal. You could say this at home too. Like I guess

I could say if I had guests over. I might you know bring

the food to the table and say enjoy your meal. But it's most

common to hear this in a restaurant. Uh Audi said Bob I

just checked. Yeah I will fix that Audi after this lesson for

sure. Um we also have borrowed a phrase. We say this two ways.

When someone is going on a trip we will often say have a good

trip. Uh we will say enjoy yourself. And we might even say

bon voyage. Which is not English. It's French. So we

have a number of phrases that we use similar to have a good

day. Have a great day. We sometimes will say people. Have

a good trip. Have a great trip or bon voyage. Basically

wishing someone well when they leave to go on a trip. We're

basically saying the long version would be I hope when

you are on your vacation or trip that you have fun

everyday. Have a good trip. Uh and then in there I said enjoy

yourself as well. I'm not sure if you've heard that one. Have

a good trip. Bon voyage. Enjoy yourself. Watch your mouth is

something that usually adults say to children when they use a

bad word. Excuse me. Like when they use a swear word they'll

say watch your mouth. Um it basically means stop swearing.

Stop using swear words. If yeah if if a student yeah how would

I say this? I'm not sure I would say watch your mouth

please. Because if a student swears in class I usually ask

them to go sit in the hall. And then I might go to them later

and say look you can't swear in class. I watch your mouth is

very direct. Like angry parent might say this to a child who

swears. So if they said the F word or something like that

they might say hey watch your mouth. Um you can't say that

word in public. And then you've might have seen this if you've

been to an English speaking country. Watch your step. This

means that there might be a little gap between you and the

train. Maybe there's a set of stairs where the stairs are

really narrow and the steps aren't very big. Anytime you're

in a situation where you might trip and Fall because things

are uneven or there's a hole or any of those kinds of things.

There will be a sign that says watch your step. Caution watch

your step. It basically means be careful when you walk here.

Watch your step. Be nice. So this is something we often say

to our children when they go to school. We say have a good day.

Enjoy your day at school. Be nice. Or be nice to your

teachers. We sometimes say that too. Uh I often say this when

students leave my classroom. I'll say hey have a good night.

See you tomorrow. Be nice to your parents. Because I always

know sometimes teenagers aren't nice to their parents. So this

is a command that's given in a nice way. It's it's not

something like you're not like be nice. You you wouldn't say

it in a mean way. You would definitely say it in a nice

kind way. Would say hey see you later be nice and it is again

usually someone like an adult talking to children you might

say this to your dog as well by the way if your dog growls you

might pull them back on their leash and say hey be nice. This

is our neighbour. Don't growl at our neighbour. Be nice. Have

fun is another good one. Um sometimes people I'm trying to

think gamers if any of you are younger there's short forms

like good luck have is something they say in video

gaming or at least they used to what I was more of a gamer

before a game or a match. So GL HF good luck have fun. Um when

you say good luck to someone or have fun to someone. You're

basically just saying I hope what you're going to do is

something fun. Okay. So if someone was going hiking I

could say hey have fun. That have a good day. Have fun.

Basically wishing someone well. And then have a good day.

Something you could say when some did I do this one already?

No. I did have a great day. So we did have a great day and now

we have have a good day. Two ways to basically say to

someone I hope your day is awesome. Um it's something that

I say to all of you when I've done my live streams. I usually

say have a good Friday or have a good day or have a good

weekend. And then this is not technically a verb. But we have

shortened another phrase the phrase see you later. We have

shortened that phrase to just later. So I'm going to end with

this slide and I'll do some questions. But when it's a very

slang way to say goodbye to people. Um you'll hear students

say this. Younger people say this. I say it sometimes. I'll

just say later. Um and it basically means I will see you

later or see you later. Um a very common informal I guess

it's slang a little bit way to say goodbye to someone.