Learn 10 Easy English Commands

Hi. I'm Rebecca from engVid. Do you wish you could learn English really quickly? Well,

you can. Why? Because in this lesson, I'm going to teach you 10 common expressions in

English, which are really short and easy to learn. Now, technically, these are phrasal

verbs, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that they're actually used as complete

sentences or commands in English. Okay? So even though they are all only two words each,

they're actually a complete sentence, a complete thought, and a command. Okay? Let's have a

look and get started.

Okay, so the first one is: "Cheer up!" What does it mean to cheer up? "To cheer up" means

to be happy. So if you see someone and they're a little bit sad, and they're feeling depressed,

and you say to them: "Hey. Cheer up! Be happy." Okay? To be cheerful means to be happy. So,

just say: "Cheer up!"

Next one: "Wait up!" When do we use that? Now, you probably know the word "wait", but

why do we say: "Wait up"? Well, again, it's an expression, and you say it when... Let's

say somebody's walking ahead of you and you recognize a friend of yours, and she's walking

a little bit ahead of you, and you're trying to get her attention. You say:

"Hey! Wait up!" Okay? That means: wait for me. So, "cheer up" means be happy; "wait up" means wait for

me, I'm coming.

Next: "Hurry up!" Okay? So, when do we say: "Hurry up"? We say: "Hurry up", when we trying

to tell someone to do whatever they're doing a little bit faster. It could be something

mental, like a test, like: "Hey, hurry up. You only have 10 minutes to finish the test."

Or it could be something physical, like: "Hurry up. We're going to be late for the bus or

for the movie. Get dressed fast. Move quickly." This is when we say: "Hurry up!" Move quickly.

Or do whatever you're doing quickly.

Next one: "Listen up!" Now, you know the word "listen", so why do we say: "Listen up"? Again,

it's an expression, and we use it when we're usually talking maybe to a group of people

and we're trying to get their attention, and we're trying to tell them to listen carefully.

Okay? So, we say: "Okay, everyone. Listen up! This is what we're going to do." Okay?

So: "listen up" means listen carefully. There we go.

Next: "Calm down!" Okay? Or: "Calm down." So, what does "calm down" mean? To be calm

means to be peaceful. So, "calm down" we say when someone is upset, angry, or really not

in a good mood; really kind of upset about something, not happy about something. Say:

"Relax. Take it easy. Calm down." Okay? Now, usually when we say that, the person is not

going to find it very easy to calm down, but nevertheless, we tell them: "Take it easy.

Calm down." Okay?

Next one: "Slow down!" Okay? So, when do we say "slow down"? We say "slow down" when we

want someone to do something more slowly. For example, maybe something happened and

somebody's very excited, and they're speaking really, really fast and you want to tell them:

"No, stop it. I can't understand what you're saying." So: "Hey. Slow down. Tell me, quietly,

what you mean." Okay? "Take it easy." But really, we're not just saying "take it easy",

we're saying: "Speak more slowly." Or usually speaking, but sometimes maybe walking, also.

Okay? Like if somebody's walking with you and you can't even keep up with them, and

they're going so fast, and they say: "Hey. Slow down. I can't catch my breath." Okay?

So it could be also for something like that. So do whatever you're doing a little more

slowly. Okay.

Next one: "Go on! Go on!" So, this is like it means continue. So, if someone's talking

and they got you all excited, and then they stop, and like: "Hey. What happened then?

Go on. I want to know. Tell me." So, "go on", just means continue.

Next one is "Hold on!" Okay? Now, you might hear this when you call customer service or

something like that, and they might use a slightly different, more polite version, hopefully.

And they might say: "Please hold on." Okay? But in regular life, "hold on" just means

wait. Okay? Please wait. So: "Hold on. I'll be with you in a minute." Or: "Hold on. I'm

tying my shoelaces." Okay? Something like that. So "hold on" just means wait.

Let's do a quick review. "Listen up!" means listen carefully. "Slow down!" Go slowly.

Speak slowly. Walk slowly. Whatever. "Go on!" means continue. Let's go on. This one means

get out. This, we usually say it's not very nice, we're not happy with somebody, and we

tell them: "Get out!" Means leave. Go out of this room. Okay? "Get out!" Or: "Get out

of here." All right? So, "get out" just means leave. It is not a happy expression; it is

an angry expression. Okay?

And the last one we have here is: "Watch out!" So, "watch out" means not watch out like that,

keep watching, but it means be careful. So, if somebody's about to step into, I don't

know, a big hole and you're walking down the street and they don't see because they're

talking to you, and they're about to fall, you say: "Hey! Watch out! Be careful." It

means: be careful. Okay? So, watch out for that expression because it means be careful.

All right. Let's do a quick review to make sure you remember it. So, if somebody's kind

of late for the bus and you want to tell them: "Move quickly, move quickly", what can you

say? You can say: "Hurry up!" If you want to tell somebody: "Please wait", what can

you say? "Hold on!" Good. If somebody is really sad and you want them to be happier, what

can you say to them? "Cheer up!" Okay. If you want to tell someone be careful, because

there's ice and they might slip and fall: "Watch out! There's ice on the street." Okay?

And let's say somebody's telling you a story and then they stop, and you want them to continue,

what can you say? "Go on!" Next one. Somebody's walking too fast, and you can't keep up with

them, and you say: "Slow down!" But if somebody's walking way ahead, and you're trying to call

out to them: "Hey! Wait up! Wait for me. We can walk together." Okay?

So, you see that these short expressions are really handy, because they're a complete thought,

they're a complete idea in just two words. And that's an easy way to learn English more

quickly. Okay? Now, you can do two things if you want to really learn these well. Go

to our website at www.engvid.com, because there, you can do a quiz on this and review

these; make sure you know these. And second, you'll also find there a resource on these

that give you the meaning, plus many others like this. Many other two-word phrasal verbs,

which we use as complete sentences. So, I've made a... Sort of a list for you that you

can refer to. Okay? So that's it for now. Good luck with your English. Bye for now.