Beware of making mistakes
When walking under the cliffs, you should always ….
… beware of falling rocks ?
…. watch out for falling people ?
…. mind the gap ?
This is a important safety announcement! There are several ways to announce the presence of danger in english. You will have probably seen or heard the famous warnings on the London underground – MIND THE GAP – which alert you to the danger of the gap between the train and the platform. It seems that these gaps only exist in Britain, but warning signs exist all over the world. The verb ‘to mind’, can alert us to the possibility of danger, and is used in the imperative form. It’s used mostly on signs and verbally as a warning e.g.
Mind your head on the low ceiling!
Mind that bus that’s coming towards you!
You might also see the verb ‘beware’ being used on signage, but with this verb is a little more old-fashioned. Use with the preposition ‘of’ to alert someone to a potential danger e.g.
‘Beware of the dog’,
‘Beware of playing leapfrog with unicorns’.
In speech, for urgent warnings, you are more likely to shout ‘look out!”, or ‘watch out!” rather than use ‘beware’. But if you just want to warn someone to be generally very careful about something , then ‘beware’ or ‘be wary’ can work.
Beware of under-qualified English Tutors
Be wary of hidden charges when you book a language course