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
to see more videos from me, of course, you can keep going to
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