Choice, Choose and Chose

A lot of people who speak English or learn the English language often have confusion on these in their writing, as “choose” and “chose” are often the confused words in their spelling.

Word choice of these words does not have to be difficult once you fully understand each of them and their uses in a number of possibilities or courses of action. They can all be used in the first, second and third person view when speaking or writing. These terms can be used with auxiliary verbs and irregular verbs in their examples but do not have to. Many idioms can be created with these words of choice, but they change from need to need.

The words ‌"choice," "choose" and "chose"‌ are all related, having to do with the act of picking or deciding on something, but they are used differently.

"Choice"‌ is a ‌noun‌ that refers to the act of picking something, ‌or‌ the options available to be picked.

"Choose"‌ and ‌"chose"‌ are ‌verbs‌, the actual action of picking or deciding on something. "Choose" is the present or future tense, while "chose" is past tense.

How to Use Choice

Because "choice" is a noun, use it as ‌a subject‌ in a sentence.

  • Example: ‌"Pat has to make a choice between the red dress and the yellow dress."
    • In this sentence "choice" refers to ‌the decision‌ that Pat faces.

"Choice" can also refer to ‌the decision or selection itself.

  • Therefore, you can say: ‌"The red dress was a good choice."
    • In this sentence, "choice" refers to ‌the dress itself‌.

“Choice” is also used in the present tense as well as the past and future tenses.

How to Use Choose

The word "choose" is a verb used in two ways. It can either be used to ‌a),‌ indicate the action happening in the ‌present‌ or ‌b),‌ indicate the action that ‌will‌ happen in the ‌future‌.

  • Example: ‌"I choose Ken as my lab partner."
    • In this sentence, "choose" is referring to the ‌present time‌; the speaker is currently choosing a lab partner.
  • Example: ‌"I will choose between the minivan and the sports car at the dealership tomorrow."
    • Here, "choose" is referring to ‌future action.

Other examples of choose can be those referring to picking out certain items from others, deciding on an activity to do, or finding the best course of action. The word choose is also confusing to readers as it appears to look like chose. This simple present tense term helps people in their English in many ways, and synonyms for choose can include: pick, decide, or select. “Choose” sounds like “chews” when speaking. Forms of the verb are similar across uses, but it is used in parts of speech referring to the present. This conjugation of choice is widely used in English. It can also be used as an infinitive in some situations.

How to Use Chose

"Chose" is the ‌past tense‌ of the verb "choose," referring to someone making a decision or selection ‌at an earlier time.

  • Example: ‌"Anna chose four of her best friends to be her bridesmaids."
    • In this sentence, "chose" refers to Anna's ‌past decision‌ about her bridesmaids.

This simple past tense use in English grammar is often confused with “choose” as the words look similar in writing. “Chose” is also the past tense of choose and acts as an act of choosing something in the past. Example sentences for “chose” can deal with a decision that was made or an action that was picked over another in the past. This past tense form can be used in countless scenarios. One example is: “we chose to sleep early last night.”

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