A FISH / A CHICKEN / A TURKEY vs. FISH / CHICKEN / TURKEY
魚 / 鶏 / 七面鳥 vs. 魚肉 / 鶏肉 / 七面鳥の肉

HOME>Word Master®>A FISH / A CHICKEN / A TURKEY vs. FISH / CHICKEN / TURKEY 魚 / 鶏 / 七面鳥 vs. 魚肉 / 鶏肉 / 七面鳥の肉

If you haven't already noticed, this week we're focussing on a few ways to talk about food and drink. It's an important subject, don't you think? After all, for many of us, half the joy in life is had at the dinner table or the pub!


The words fish, chicken, and turkey can be used to talk about the animals themselves, or they can be used to talk about the meat of these animals that we buy and eat. 

When used to talk about the animals, the words are countable (for example, we can say, "three fish"*, "some chickens", "a lot of turkeys", etc.). 

When used to talk about the meat of these animals, the words are uncountable (for example, we can say, "some fish", "a lot of chicken", "only a little turkey", etc.).

* Note: The singular and plural forms of fish are both fish, usually without an "-es". Some people do say fishes, however, especially when talking about two or more KINDS of fish. (See the 1 December 2000 WordMaster for more on this use of the plural form.)

fishchickenturkeyという言葉は、 魚、鶏、七面鳥という生き物を表す場合もあれば、それぞれの肉を表す場合もあります。

生き物をさす場合は、数えられる名詞として扱われます。例:"three fish"* (3匹の魚)、"some chickens" (何羽かの鶏)、"a lot of turkeys"(たくさんの七面鳥)など

肉をさす場合は、数えられない名詞として扱われます。例:"some fish"(いくらかの魚の肉)、"a lot of chicken"(たくさんの鶏肉)、 "only a little turkey"(ほんの少しの七面鳥の肉)など

* 注意: fishは、単数形と複数形が同じfishです。普通は語尾に-esをつけません。けれども複数の種類を表すときには、fishesと言うこともあります。(種類を表すときに使う複数形については2000/12/1 WordMaster参照)


1.a:Have you ever seen a wild turkey?
b:No, but I've seen wild chickens in Hawaii.
 
2.For my birthday, I got an aquarium and three tropical fish.
 
3.Most Americans have turkey for Thanksgiving dinner.
 
4.Flight attendant: Fish or chicken?
Passenger: I'll have fish, please.
Take care!