fish

[simon1234]

Hi there,
Please help with the following option.
I caught (a fish/ fish) yesterday?

tks
simon

 

[birdeen's call]

Both sentences are correct.

 

[The French]

Hi there,
Please help with the following option.
I caught (a fish/ fish) yesterday?

tks
simon

Hello,

(I'm neither English nor a student, but for me your first sentence means you have caught one fish.

Maybe I'm wrong but without article it's more general.

Bye,

 

[Rover_KE]

I caught a fish means you caught one fish.

A native speaker is not likely to say 'I caught fish yesterday'.

I'd say 'I caught some/a few/three fish yesterday.

Rover

 

[golukhanna]

fish can be used both as singular and plural like you caught a fish means a single fish and you caught fish means many fish .fishes can be used when there are different kinds of them .I am a student and this information is from a book somewhere i had read.

 

[birdeen's call]

A native speaker is not likely to say 'I caught fish yesterday'.

I'd say 'I caught some/a few/three fish yesterday.

I think it's not entirely true. Indeed, no one would say "I caught fish yesterday" to mean "I caught some fish." But if they meant a repetitive action, it would be possible I think.

I caught fish yesterday. ≈ I fished yesterday.

 

[Raymott]

I think it's not entirely true. Indeed, no one would say "I caught fish yesterday" to mean "I caught some fish." But if they meant a repetitive action, it would be possible I think.

I caught fish yesterday. ≈ I fished yesterday.

It's still unlikely.
A: What did you do yesterday?
B: I went fishing. Right
B: I caught fish. Bizarre, but not wrong.

(Sorry if I appear to be carping).

 

[birdeen's call]

It's still unlikely.
A: What did you do yesterday?
B: I went fishing. Right
B: I caught fish. Bizarre, but not wrong.

(Sorry if I appear to be carping).

Right, it's not likely to appear in this context. Less controversial examples can be found here. Almost all of them have the same problem: "I caught fish" is not a standalone sentence there, but a part of a subordinate clause. But if we agree to give "yesterday" up, we obtain such results as:

I fished deep, I fished shallow; I fished slow, I fished fast; I caught fish early, I caught fish late

I caught fish all day, and my best fish came when the wind would blow on a spinnerbait.

 

[Barb_D]

(I caught the "carping" reference, even if no one else did.)

 

[5jj]

(I caught the "carping" reference, even if no one else did.)

I thought it was not my plaice to draw attention to it.

 

[Rover_KE]

I thought it was not my plaice to draw attention to it.

Same here, 5jj.

I thought it best to skate over it.

 

[Barb_D]

(groan)

 

[Buddhaheart]

I caught a fish means you caught one fish.

A native speaker is not likely to say 'I caught fish yesterday'.

I'd say 'I caught some/a few/three fish yesterday.

Rover

I agree with Rover a native speaker would most likely not say “I caught fish yesterday.” He would use an article or a quantifier like “a”, “some”,”2”, “quite a few” & etc before the noun.

 

[Raymott]

Coming from an area where fishing was the economic mainstay, I heard, "I caught fish" quite often. It may have been like this, "I caught fish south of the jetty last night." It was probably said this way to indicate that there were fish in a certain area and the fisherman didn't want to say how many fish he had caught.

The more common ways of expressing this would be, "I caught (a, some, a few, several, 14, etc.) fish last night."

It seems that enough people say "I caught fish yesterday" to make it normal, at least among anglers. So my argument that it's unusual is beginning to flounder.

 

[birdeen's call]

Would

Catchabam fisces.

be a cod Latin version?

 

[5jj]

Raymott: So my argument that it's unusual is beginning to flounder.
BC: Would Catchabam fisces. be a cod Latin version?

I think you are both just angling for compliments.