Return to main page of Everyday English

English for Everyday Living

  Hundreds of My Favorite Songs from the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's.

Learn about American culture through the popular music of the time. Practice reading English with Lyrics to the songs and biographies of the singers and bands at  www.mikiemetric.com .

To order these lessons on an Audio CD or in print, go to the Order Page.  

In the Kitchen

The kitchen is the room where food is prepared and cooked.  Often, food is also stored and eaten in the kitchen.  Other homes have a separate room for storing food (pantry) and for eating meals (dining room).  Kitchens are also used for entertaining informal guests, for holding family discussions and for doing school work. 

man cooking food woman sweeping floor hands slicing onion washing clothes garbage can
Fred is cooking something. Sally sweeps the kitchen floor. He is slicing an onion. Don't put the cat in the washing machine. We need a new garbage can.

Common expressions used in the kitchen:

  • Sit down and eat.
  • Help me set the table.
  • Please close the refrigerator.
  • Don't hold the refrigerator door open.
  • Jane, it's your turn to do the dishes.
  • I'll wash the dishes and you can dry.
  • Is supper ready yet?
  • When will dinner be ready?
  • Tom, will you please load the dishwasher?
  • Put the dirty dishes in the sink.
  • We need an extra chair.
  • Don't eat so fast.
  • Don't gulp your food.
  • Don't talk with your mouth full.
  • We're having soup and sandwiches for lunch.
  • The turkey is in the oven.
  • I'll warm up the pizza in the microwave.
  • Don't put those bones in the garbage disposal.
  • Please put the silverware on the table.
  • Do the spoons and the knife go on the right side of the plate?
  • The forks go on the other side.
  • Use one squirt of dish detergent when you wash dishes.
  • The broom and  mop are standing in the closet.
  • The dust pan is in there, too, hanging on a hook.
  • I need the mixer to blend the cake ingredients.
  • I have to put the groceries away.
  • What are we having for dinner?
  • We're having spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.
  • Would you like a tossed salad with the spaghetti?
  • Put the plates and saucers in the cupboard.
  • Put the cups and glasses in the other cupboard.
  • What's for dessert?
  • Let's have roast beef and mashed potatoes.
  • Eat your broccoli; it's good for you.
  • I have to scour the large pan.
  • Do you want fried eggs for breakfast?
  • I want cereal for breakfast.
  • Put some bread in the toaster.
  • You can have orange juice or milk with your eggs.
  • Where should I put the canned goods?
  • Cleaning products belong in the cupboard under the sink.
  • Boxes of cereal and crackers go in the cupboard over the sink.
  • Please put a new roll of paper towels in the dispenser.
  • I have to sweep and mop the kitchen floor.
  • Please get a bucket of soapy water for me.
  • Rinse the dishes before you put them in the dish washer.
  • Will you put the silverware in the drawer?
bacon, eggs, toast, coffee corn on the cob common fruits and vegetables sandwich spareribs
Jim has fried eggs, bacon, toast and coffee for breakfast. This is corn on the cob, a favorite summertime food in the United States. From back to front: carrots, a can of spinach, a banana, a tomato, half of a grapefruit and a potato. Some people like a sandwich with many ingredients in it. These are called spareribs, even though they are all in one piece.

You may print out this lesson from the web page or order it free via e-mail. 

  Exercise A: Write a meaning for each verb that has something to do with the kitchen, then use any form of that verb in a sentence.  (Example: EAT = to take food into your body through your mouth.  "Jerry ate pizza almost every night."

KITCHEN VERBS MEANINGS OF VERBS VERBS IN A SENTENCE
1. eat, eats, ate, eating, eaten    
2. sit, sits, sat, sitting, sat    
3. close, closes, closed, closing, closed    
4. do, does, did, doing, done    
5. load, loads, loaded, loading, loaded    
6. put, puts, put, putting, put    
7. scour, scours, scoured, scouring, scoured    
8. set, sets, set, setting, set    
9. gulp, gulps, gulped, gulping, gulped    
10. warm, warms, warmed, warming, warmed    
11. bake, bakes, baked, baking, baked    
12. fry, fries, fried, frying, fried    
13. cook, cooks, cooked, cooking, cooked    
14. stir, stirs, stirred, stirring, stirred    
15. sweep, sweeps, swept, sweeping, swept    
16. mop, mops, mopped, mopping, mopped    
17. pour, pours, poured, pouring, poured    
18. spill, spills, spilled, spilling, spilled    
19. chew, chews, chewed, chewing, chewed    
20. drink, drinks, drank, drinking, drunk    
21. cut, cuts, cut, cutting, cut    
22. fork,forks,-forked, forking, forked    
23. spoon, spoons, spooned, spooning, spooned    
24. boil, boils, boiled, boiling, boiled    
25. toast, toasts, toasted, toasting, toasted    
26. peel, peels, peeled, peeling, peeled    
27. slice, slices, sliced, slicing, sliced    
28. spread, spreads, spread, spreading, spread    
roast turkey pop up toaster can opener steam iron microwave oven
Many people have a roast turkey on Thanksgiving Day. This is a pop-up toaster, but we just call it a toaster. This is a hand-operated can opener. This is an electric iron for removing wrinkles from your clothes. This is a microwave oven. It can heat food very quickly.

page break

Exercise B: Write a meaning for each noun below in the space beside the noun. Use a meaning that has something to do with a kitchen.

NOUN  MEANING (IN A KITCHEN) NOUN  MEANING (IN A KITCHEN)
refrigerator   garbage disposal  
freezer   dish washer  
stove   toaster  
sink   ingredients  
blender   table  
food processor   chair  
mixer   stool  
cupboard   highchair  
closet   plate  
shelf   saucer  
counter   dish  
drawer   bowl  
burner   teaspoon  
pot   paring knife  
pan   butcher knife  
frying pan   steak knife  
sauce pan   butter knife  
casserole   soup spoon  
teapot   tablespoon  
coffee pot   fork  
bucket   salad fork  
pail   tumbler  
ice cube tray   cup  
dish cloth   mug  
scouring pad   napkin  
microwave oven   crock pot  
skillet   hot pad  

page break

 

 

This is a portable electric mixer. I use mine to make mashed potatoes. You can clean a dirty floor with a bucket and mop. This is called a teapot or a kettle. This is an automatic washing machine. You can use a broom and a dust pan to sweep a dirty floor.

 

Exercise C: Fill in the blanks in these sentences with words from the Noun List above.  More than one word may fit in some of the blanks.

1. Katrina filled the ________________ with water and put them in the ____________so they would be ready when she made iced tea.

2. The cook began frying eggs in the __________ and put two slices of bread in the ___________ .

3. Jack loaded the dirty dishes into the _______________ .

4. Jill put the clean dishes in the _______________.

5. People use a _______________ to heat food quickly.

6. Betty wanted to bake a cake, but she did not have all of the ______________.

7. Mother put the milk and eggs she just bought in the ______________ to keep them fresh.

8. You use a ______________ to peel potatoes, a ______________ to slice a turkey, and a ___________ to spread peanut butter.

9. Donna put soup in the __________ and placed it on the __________ to heat.

10. Mrs. Jones took the ____________ and __________ from the ____________ to clean the muddy kitchen floor.

Answers:

1. ice cube trays, freezer

2. frying pan, toaster

3. dishwasher

4. cupboard

5. microwave (oven)

6. ingredients

7. refrigerator

8. paring knife, butcher (carving) knife, butter knife

9. pan, stove

10. mop, bucket, closet

© 2008 Mikie Metric Productions, Williamsport, PA  17701 

To contact us, copy and paste the following address in the 'To:' space of your e-mail program:

  learning@say-it-in-english.com 

Return to the top of the page.