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7.1

How to set a table

Set only what the meal needs, in the order it will be used, from the outside in.

A simple place setting on a wooden table: plate in the center, fork on the left, knife on the right, glasses above
Photo: Tara Winstead / Pexels
Area: KitchenFrom age 6Time to learn: 10 minutes

Put the plate in the center, the fork on the left, the knife and then the spoon on the right, and the glass above the knife.

Why it matters

This basic table setting, used for a family dinner table, puts each item where a right-handed diner reaches for it and in the order the courses arrive. Once you know the pattern, you can set any dinner table without a diagram. The same rules let you read a formal table setting when you are the guest.

How to do it

  1. Put the plate in the center of each place, about 1 inch from the edge of the table.
  2. Put the fork to the left of the plate, tines up. If there is a salad fork, it goes to the left of the dinner fork, because it is used first.
  3. Put the knife to the right of the plate with the cutting edge facing the plate.
  4. Put the spoon to the right of the knife. If soup is served, the soup spoon goes to the right of that spoon.
  5. Line up the bottoms of the fork, knife and spoon about 1 inch from the edge of the table, the same as the plate.
  6. Put the water glass above the knife, or at a 45-degree angle to the right of the knife. Any other glasses go to the right of the water glass.
  7. Put the napkin to the left of the fork, under the fork, or on the plate.
  8. If you use a bread plate, it goes above the forks, at the upper left. To remember: make an OK sign with each hand. The left hand makes a b for bread; the right hand makes a d for drinks.
  9. For dessert, bring the utensils out with dessert, or lay them above the plate: the fork with its handle pointing left, and the spoon above it with its handle pointing right.
  10. Check the order with the word FORKS, read left to right: Fork, O for the plate, Knife, Spoons.

Common mistakes

  • Turning the knife blade outward. It always faces the plate.
  • Setting utensils nobody will use. No soup means no soup spoon.
  • Putting the glass on the left above the forks. Drinks go on the right.
You can do this when …you can set four places from memory, with every fork on the left, every knife blade facing its plate and every glass above its knife.

Sources

  1. The Emily Post Institute: Table Setting Guides
  2. The Emily Post Institute: Basic Table Setting
  3. Georgia 4-H (University of Georgia Extension): Place Setting Quick Reference Guide

Sources and numbers last checked . How we check

Topic: Cooking basics

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