choicevschooseWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: choice is a noun, choose is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“choice” is a noun and “choose” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,815
“choice” frequency rank
#31,290
“choose” frequency rank
41105
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature choice choose
Definition escolha escolher

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set choice and choose apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
choice
6 ch
choose

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: choice is /t͡ʃɔɪs/ while choose is /t͡ʃuːz/, enPR: cho͞oz. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41105, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

choice is recorded at frequency rank #9,815, classified as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃɔɪs/. choose is at rank #31,290, tagged as averb, pronounced /t͡ʃuːz/, enPR: cho͞oz.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 41105, this pair ranks #24,885 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of choice vs choose

Shared letters: ceho. Private to "choice": i. Private to "choose": s.

"choice" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV  ·  "choose" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • choicecchoice · chhoice · chioce · chocie · choicce · choiec · cohice · hcoice
  • choosecchoose · chhoose · chooes · choosse · chose · chosoe · cohose · hcoose

Frequency comparison

choice#9,815
choose#31,290

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "choice" and "choose" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "choice" is a noun and "choose" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "choice" or "choose"?
"choice" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,815 in our Portuguese list, against #31,290 for "choose". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering choice vs choose

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “choice”; for a verb, it's “choose”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “choice” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list