You’ve just unboxed a brand new Amazon Echo product, and Alexa is now at your beck and call — but what do you ask? You’ve likely already asked for the weather a few times, maybe even for a news update or your favorite musician, but now what? We’re prepared to answer that question for you and show you just how much your new assistant can do with our list of the best Alexa commands. Once you’ve learned the essentials here, pop over to our best Alexa Easter eggs list to see what other secrets lay within.

Alexa is a great way to obtain information about the world around you, whether you want to know the conditions outside or what’s happening on the other side of the globe. Check out these commands for interacting with Alexa’s news and weather features. If you need to set information for your current location or commute, you can do so in the Alexa app.

Want to stay on top of your email and calendar events? Thanks to Alexa, you can check for new messages, view calendar events, and create new events all with your voice. Be sure to begin by setting up calendar or email information in your Alexa app. Go to Settings > Email and calendar. Now, let’s get down to productivity.

Need help being reminded of something? Alexa can set a reminder or alarm to alert you at a specific time or once a specified amount of time has elapsed. Do you prefer to hear your favorite musician or album instead of Alexa’s default alarm sound? Simply ask and Alexa can make it happen.

Alexa is connected to one of the largest stores in the world — Amazon — so it only makes sense that you can place orders with the sound of your voice. Don’t need to place an order at this exact moment? Instead, create a shopping list with Alexa that you can reference later, either when shopping online or offline at your local grocery store.

Have you jumped on the smart home craze? If you’ve got your house outfitted with smart light bulbs, outlets, door locks, cameras, and more, you can easily control them with Alexa. Just be sure to set up everything first in the Alexa app under the Devices section.

Looking to throw yourself onto the couch and put on your favorite album or perhaps set the perfect music for a romantic dinner? Using Alexa, you can play your favorite music from services such as Amazon Music, Apple Music, and Spotify — set up your preference in the music app. More of a TV person? Alexa has a few tricks in that department, too.

Alexa can call other Echo devices, as well as landlines and toll-free phone numbers. If you have a family member or friend with an Echo device, you can also send messages with ease. Check out the commands below to stay in communication, even using the Drop-In command to check in on other rooms in your house. You can set up Drop-In via the Alexa app.

If you have an Echo Show with a touchscreen, then you also have extra commands that come with the smart display. Here are several examples of how to use the display.

Amazon ensures that its Fire TV devices work with Alexa, so if you use the Fire TV platform, this opens up a new range of commands to help manage what you want to watch and can sometimes be faster than using the remote.

If you’re in the kitchen or putting together a menu for a party, you can also make Alexa part of the conversation to get more ideas or save a little time. We mentioned above that Alexa can keep multiple timers, but here are some food and drink skills that do much more.

If you’re following your favorite team or getting caught up on the latest league news, Alexa can help make things a little easier with the right questions.

If it’s getting near a certain holiday, Alexa may be able to help you celebrate, too. These commands are worth trying to help get into the spirit or make things more fun.

If you want to have fun with Alexa, there are a number of joke commands you can try. You can always ask Alexa to tell you a joke, although her sense of humor is a little … limited. But there are plenty of other questions that will yield funny replies if you want to experiment a little. In fact, there are so many joke commands we suggest you visit our guide on the funny things to ask Alexa for the full list.

Tired of using the same “Alexa” wake word all the time? You can switch the wake word between four different options if you want to try something different. Head to your Alexa app, and go to the Menu option in the lower-right corner, then select Settings. Here, pick the device you are using. In the device settings window, you’ll find an option to switch the wake word. You can choose between “Alexa,” “Amazon,” “Computer,” and “Echo.” Not a lot of variety, but at least you can experiment.