Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[muscle5572]

I thought we can use "How much" for uncountable noun.
Fish is an uncountable noun.
"How much fish did you catch?" Is it grammatically correct?
or should I say "How many fish did you catch?"

[pugachevV]

Fish is a countable noun. You should ask "How many fish did you catch?"
I spent all day fishing but only caught three (fish).
He had 5 fish in a bucket.

On the other hand, if you ask a trawler captain how many fish he had caught he would probably say, "10 tonnes".

Fish is a countable noun in small quantities but uncountable when it becomes a bulk product.

Just to keep life interesting

[Lorikeet]

It gets worse! I've seen signs in the aquarium about different kinds of fishes. I think it's like "cheeses" or "wines" when you talk about different types. I, however, tend to use "fish" "cheese" or "wine" in both circumstances. I don't even know for sure which usage is becoming more prevalent.