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Minhi
You clean fish. vs You clean a fish. Which is correct?
Fish is non-countable, and non-countable nouns don't have indefinite article a before themselves. But I saw a phrase like "clean a fish", which makes me confused.
Jan 25, 2016 5:41 PM
Answers · 3
4
Since "fish" can be both plural and singular without changing form, "clean fish" means to clean multiple fish, while "clean a fish" means to clean a single fish.
January 25, 2016
1
Yes that phrase means "clean a single fish". Where as "clean fish" could be any amount more than one.
January 25, 2016
"Fish" can be singular (a fish), plural (10 fish) or uncountable (I eat fish). When it is uncountable, we mean it as food, ie. the flesh of a fish. Since the spelling and pronunciation doesn't change, I can understand that this may be confusing for learners.
January 26, 2016
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Minhi
Language Skills
Chinese (Mandarin), Korean
Learning Language
Chinese (Mandarin)
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