diff --git a/cmd/delete/delete.go b/cmd/delete/delete.go
index b1edc22e2..fcdc77f39 100644
--- a/cmd/delete/delete.go
+++ b/cmd/delete/delete.go
@@ -14,9 +14,13 @@ var commandDefintion = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:   "delete remote:path",
 	Short: `Remove the contents of path.`,
 	Long: `
-Remove the contents of path.  Unlike ` + "`" + `purge` + "`" + ` it obeys include/exclude
+Remove the files in path.  Unlike ` + "`" + `purge` + "`" + ` it obeys include/exclude
 filters so can be used to selectively delete files.
 
+` + "`" + `rclone delete` + "`" + ` only deletes objects but leaves the directory structure
+alone. If you want to delete a directory and all of its contents use
+` + "`" + `rclone purge` + "`" + `
+
 Eg delete all files bigger than 100MBytes
 
 Check what would be deleted first (use either)