knife, fork, and spoon

knife, fork, spoon

hold your knife or fork or spoon

pick up your …

put down your …

spoon

a soup spoon

a teaspoon

a serving spoon

a wooden spoon

stir (the soup) with a spoon

knife

a sharp knife

a blunt knife

cut or slice (meat) with a knife

fork

pick (food) up with your fork

beat (eggs) with a fork

Exercises:

Verb collocations

1. Peter! Put your knife and fork down, and wait until everybody has been served.

2. I picked up my spoon and tried the soup, but I wasn’t hungry.

3. My brother is right-handed, but he holds his fork in his right hand, and his knife in his left!

Adjective and noun collocations

1. I can’t peel the potato with this knife. It’s too blunt.

2. Jane! Use the serving spoon to lift the vegetables onto your plate, not your fingers!

3. You’ll need a sharp knife to cut your steak. It’s very tough.

4. Have you got a teaspoon? I take sugar in my coffee.

Common expressions

1. Stir the soup occasionally with the wooden spoon. (d)

2. Can you cut the melon in half with the kitchen knife, please? (c)

3. I tried to pick the peas up with my fork but they kept falling off. (a)

4. Beat the eggs and flour with a fork until the mixture is smooth. (b)

Note

Note these expressions:

Be careful you don’t cut yourself with that knife!

I can’t believe that some ten-year-old kids don’t know how to use a knife and fork!