Sometimes in English you need to be able to tell someone what to do.

This verb form is called the imperative, and in this video, we're going to look at 10 ways to use the verb, "to be" in its imperative form.

1. Be careful!

You can say, "Be careful!" to someone if they are doing something dangerous.

Imagine you and a friend are mountain climbing, and as your friend climbs above you, you see that he is in a dangerous situation.

You could say, using the imperative: Be careful!

"Be careful up there, Dave. You might slip."

"Be careful, Dave. It looks dangerous up there."

2. Be quiet.

Imagine you are driving in a van and you have a bunch of your children in the back (if you have children), and they are being loud.

You could use the imperative phrase, "Be quiet!" to tell them that they are being too loud and you would like them to quiet down.

"Be quiet, kids! I'm trying to concentrate on my driving."

"Be quiet, kids! It's too loud in here."

3. Be prepared.

Let's imagine that a storm is approaching and you are listening to the news.

On the news the news anchor may say, "Be prepared! A storm is coming."

"Be prepared, people! High winds are imminent."

"Be prepared! A storm will arrive soon."

And this is the imperative form of "to be" with the word prepared.

Letting you know that you should make sure you have food, candles, and other things you may need in the event of a disaster.

Be prepared!

4. Be happy!

You might know the song, "Don't worry. Be happy!"

And this song actually uses two sentences in the imperative.

The first is the negative form, "Don't worry" and the second is the affirmative form, "Be happy!"

And basically, it is telling you that you should set aside your worries in life. Don't think about your problems, and just try to be happy.

Don't worry, be happy!

5. Don't be late.

So I've switched over to using the negative form of the imperative.

In the affirmative form we say things like, "Be happy!".

In the negative form we say things with "Don't" in front.

So we would say things like, "Don't be late."

So imagine you are a teacher and you and your students are going to go on a trip.

You would say to your students, "Don't be late tomorrow morning. We are leaving at 7am. Don't be late because the bus will not wait for you."

Don't be late.

6. Don't be mean.

You might be talking with a brother or sister and then maybe it's turning into an argument and one of you is starting to get angry and saying words that they should not say.

You could say, "Don't be mean."

"Don't be mean to me when you talk."

And this is again the negative form of the imperative and you're indicating to the person that you would prefer that they are kind to you.

"Don't be mean. Let's keep this argument civil."

Don't be mean.

7. Don't be afraid.

Imagine you're walking with a small child and it's nighttime, and it's kind of dark outside,

you would say to the child, "Don't be afraid. I am here with you."

"Don't be afraid. I will hold your hand."

And in this way, you use the imperative to indicate to the child how they should be feeling.

It won't necessarily stop them from being afraid, but it might assure them that you are watching over them.

Don't be afraid.

8. Don't be difficult.

Sometimes when having a small argument with a friend who you know really well, you might say to them, "Don't be difficult," if they are making the argument somewhat uncomfortable for you.

You would need to know the person well to make this statement.

But let's say for instance a friend was bugging me, or making fun of me about something, I could say to them, "Dave, don't be difficult. Let's try to resolve this nicely."

9. Don't be an idiot.

Please don't ever say this sentence to someone, but you should know what this sentence is.

Sometimes when you are watching a TV show or a movie you will hear someone say something like: "Don't be an idiot."

And basically what this means is they think the person is acting in a way where they are showing that they are not intelligent.

And so they would say in derogatory way, it is a bit of an insult:

Don't be an idiot.

Again, please don't use this sentence yourself.

This is only so you will recognize it.

But the phrase "Don't be an idiot" is something you will hear sometimes in English.

10. Let's be kind to each other.

So this is the form of the imperative that includes the person who is speaking.

When we use "Let's" in front of an imperative sentence, it means that I myself as the speaker am included in the command.

So if I say, "Let's be kind to each other," it means that myself and the other people that I am talking to will all attempt to be kind to each other in the conversation.

Let's be kind to each other.

Those are actually good words for everyone around the world.

Well, that's 10 ways to use the verb "to be" in the imperative.

Bob the Canadian here. Learn English with Bob the Canadian.

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