Table manners Present Simple and Continuous mimes and discussion

Mime some of the sentences below to your partner until they guess what you are doing.

1. You are cleaning your teeth with a toothpick
2. You are lifting your plate or bowl off the table to eat
3. You are mixing your food together on your plate
4. You’re belching (= burping- letting gas out of your mouth)
5. You’re chewing some gum
6. You’re complaining to a waiter about your food
7. You’re drinking down in one
8. You’re drinking soup from a bowl (without a spoon)
9. You’re eating and talking at the same time
10. You’re eating food with your left hand
11. You’re eating with chopsticks
12. You’re eating with your elbows on the table
13. You’re eating with your fork in your right hand
14. You’re eating your food with your hands
15. You’re giving a bottle of wine to your host when you visit their house
16. You’re leaving some food on the edge of your plate
17. You’re pouring beer into someone else’s glass
18. You’re pouring beer into your own glass
19. You’re praying before you eat
20. You’re putting a napkin in the neck of your shirt
21. You’re putting extra salt and pepper on your food
22. You’re slurping (= making noises) as you eat your soup, rice or noodles
23. You’re wiping your plate with bread

Which of the things above do you do always/ usually/ often/ sometimes/ never? And people in your country and other countries.

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Use some of the sentence stems below and the actions above to make statements about general table manners, making any grammatical changes which are necessary to match the situation and gaps.   

American people often _________________. British people also sometimes _________________, but it is considered rude

Arabic and Indian people never ______________________________ because that hand is traditionally used when you go to the toilet

British children often ______________, but their parents tell them not to

British people never ______________, but Japanese people usually do it

British people sometimes _________________, but it is considered rude

French and Italian people often ________________________________. British people also sometimes do it, but it is considered rude

French people never _____________________________________, because the host will chose one that perfectly matches the meal

Japanese people rarely ______________________________________, because it is much more polite to do it for someone else

Check your answers as a class.

Work together to write similar statements about table manners with the Present Simple tense. 

Suggested answers

Note that other answers are possible.

American people often do eat with their fork in their right hand. British people also sometimes do it, but it is considered rude. (13)

Arabic and Indian people never eat food with their left hand because that hand is traditionally used when you go to the toilet (10)

British children often eat with their elbows on the table, but their parents tell them not to (12)

British people never lift their plate or bowl off the table to eat, but Japanese people usually do it (2)

British people sometimes slurp, but it is considered rude (22)

French and Italian people often wipe their plate with their bread. British people also sometimes do it, but it is considered rude (23)

French people never give a bottle of wine to their host when they visit their house, because the host will chose one that perfectly matches the meal (15)

Japanese people rarely pour beer into their own glass, because it is much more polite to do it for someone else (18)

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Related pages

Present Simple and Continuous page

Food cultural differences page

Learning grammar through body language and gestures links