What’s the past tense of “choose”?
To choose (which sounds like chews, and rhymes with shoes) is the verb form of the noun choice.
I’ve chosen a pale green colour for the walls.
She chose this career.
I have choose to move another city.
They chosen their dessert.
- Chose is the simple past tense of choose.
- Chosen (rhymes with frozen) is the past participle.
The verb choose is an irregular verb with two past verb forms, chose and chosen, neither of which end in -ed.
Verb forms of choose
What’s the definition of “choice”? As a matter of course, let’s define subject topics first: the word choice, importantly, is a noun, and is defined as “to select from a number of possibilities; pick by preference: ‘the choice is yours to make‘.
That’s the distinction here: choice is a noun, and functions as such in sentences; whereas choose is the verb form of the noun, choice. Chose is the simple past tense of choose, and chosen is the past participle.
Compare the following sentences:
| Word Form | Examples |
|---|---|
| Past Tense |
I chose the pasta. (simple past) |
| Past Participle | By the time I arrived at the restaurant, they had already chosen a table. (past perfect) |
The first sentence describes an action that is completed, or something that took place entirely in the past. That’s the past simple tense. The second sentence, which uses the past participle ‘chosen‘, forms a different tense in English called the past perfect tense, also known as pluperfect.
To form the past perfect tense, we use the past participle + ‘had‘. The past perfect tense shows when an action took place before another event or action in the past. We use the past perfect when we want to clarify the order in which past events took place. So, in sum, we use ‘chosen‘ when we want to form the past perfect tense or in modal verb constructions (i.e., I should have chosen something different).
Practice using the verb in different tenses with example sentences to memorize the correct forms.
Choose, chose, and chosen (in sentences)
| Verb conjugation | Examples |
|---|---|
| choose |
You can choose any topping you like for the pizza.
I always choose to walk when the weather is nice. Which of these paths will you choose? |
| chose |
Yesterday, she chose the red dress for the party.
He chose his words carefully before speaking. We chose to stay home instead of going to the movies. |
| chosen |
The team has chosen a new captain.
She was chosen to represent the school at the competition. If I had known, I would have chosen a different path. |
Similar words and phrases
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Synonyms | adopt, appoint, determine, elect, embrace, favour, espouse, commit oneself, take up, make up one’s mind, settle upon something, make a decision |
| Idioms/phrases | to choose the lesser of two evils; not much to choose between; choose (pick) your poison |
The origin of choice
Old English ceosan “choose, seek out, select from two or more; decide, test, taste, try; accept, approve”.
In review: tenses of choose
To choose is present tense, chose is the past tense, and chosen is the past participle; (pairs with auxiliary verbs to create the perfect and progressive tenses).
Practice: chose vs. chosen
She always ___ the most difficult question first.
He hasn’t ___ a topic for his project yet.
Last night, I ___ to stay home instead of going out.
If you ___ that color, I think it will look great.
She was ___ between two different dresses.
FAQs
What is the simple past tense of “choose”?
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What’s the past participle of “choose”?
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How do I use “chose” correctly?
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When do I use “chosen” instead of “chose”?
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What’s the difference between “chose” and “chosen”?
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Sources
- Merriam-Webster, Definition of choice.
Yash, D. "How to Use Chose vs. Chosen (Irregular Verbs)." Grammarflex, Aug 24, 2025, https://grammarflex.com/chose-vs-chosen/.
