This has plagued me -and others- for a very long time, and it is not as simple as it mights seem.?

Question

Why is it that some will say "You have a choice, " or "You have two choices," when they mean to say exactly the same thing?You are given an option between two things, and you must choose between the two. But if you are told you have two choices, does it not then mean that there are more than two things to decide upon? If you had a choice, which would you pick as the most correct : "You have a choice" (between this or another, or, "You have two choices" (between this or another)?
In comedian Eddie Izzard's sketch, characters are given a choice between cake or death. Is this one choice or two choices? Is choosing between door number one and door number two one choice, or two? Doesn't the idea of a two item selection mean simply that there is a decision to be made, and the idea is to choose (relative word to choice, singular, right?), one option of the other, for you can not have both.
Thank you, one and all...or if I must decide whom to thank, I thank everyone who answers this...

Answer 1

I think the confusion comes from the ambiguity of the English language. When you are saying that you have a choice between A and B, "choice" refers to the act of choosing not the thing being chosen. In the other case you mention, You have two choices, the choice is the object that is being chosen. It's vague and English doesn't deal well with situations like this since the sentence structure doesn't show ownership of descriptors like for instance any other language. haha. For example take this statement: The green lizard stands. Are we talking about a "green lizard" standing up? Or is a "green colored" lizard-stand (night stand etc)?

Oh, and Eddie Izzard rocks... I love the Cake or death bit too!

Answer 2

(I love Eddie Izzard, and "cake or death" is great.)

Both sentences are correct, because the first one is actually a little incomplete. The full terms are: "You have a choice between A and B" and "You have two choices, A or B."

The first sentences requires the full fragment ("between A and B") to completely express the idea, whereas the second can simply be a declarative sentence enumerating your choices, and the "A or B" is simply additional, optional information.
Besides, the real problem with these sentences is that there is ALWAYS another choice. For example, as you'll remember, apparently Hitler special-ordered the fish. ;P

Answer 3

Having two choices means that you can either choose this or that. I choose A instead of B or I choose B instead of A... "You have a choice" indicates that there are multiple choices, usually 3 or more, and many ways to go about making them. Like choosing classes in school or how to run your life.

Answer 4

"You have two choices" is technically incorrect. The one that you choose is the choice -- the other is discarded. However, saying "You have two possible choices" is OK -- since it indicates the fact that one will be your choice, but there is uncertainty about which will be chosen.

So -- the question becomes, is English flexible enough that it allows us to drop the word "Possible" when we all know it is implied. The answer is YES -- and "Two Possible Choices" becomes "Two Choices."

Of course, sometimes there really are two choices -- like at the Boston Market when I get to choose two side dished from several possible choices.

Answer 5

They can mean the same and the can also mean multiple questions. You have a choice, to do or not to do, or to do this or that same thing you are doing. If somebody told me I had 2 choices, I would actually have three. To do the status quo thing, or the other two options. To be or not to be that is the choice, to answer on not answer. To answer with a good answer, crap answer or not at all.

Answer 6

You are right!
"You have a choice" is correct. It means that you can choose between something and something else.
"You have two choices" used to mean that you could choose two out of three/four/etc.
However, as I've written before the language evolves. So, things change and what used to mean one thing, now it means sth else.
Therefore, now you can say both "you have a choice" and "you have two choices" as well.

Answer 7

When there is a choice u only pick 1 the best 1 it's only 1 choice no matter how many option there r because u only get 1 result be it bad or good from that choice.

Answer 8

You have a choice means you can select from two or more options. You have two choices doesn't makes sense; it should be you have two options, if you are trying to limit the choice to two options. One can also have two choices to make on unrelated things.

So, if you said I have a choice, I'd think I have to decide between two or more options (like what I want for dinner).

If you said I have two choices, I'd think I have to do the same, twice, for two different issues (like what I want for dinner and what I want to drink).

Make sense?

Answer 9

The problem is that the word choice means both the action of choosing and the object chosen. So one choice may be from among six choices. It would be tidier to call the choices options. You have a choice of six options. But the word has migrated to mean both, hence the mixup.

Same with dance - let's dance a dance. Which dance shall we dance? Would could dance any of six dances - it's not so uncommon.

Answer 10

The only reason there's any difficulty is that "choice" has many meanings. One of them is "the opportunity to choose," as in "you have a choice," and another is "an alternative," as in "you have two choices."

They're both correct, but if you want to be unambiguous, say "You have a choice: you have two alternatives."