To choose means to pick one thing from several options, deciding what you want or what seems best. When you choose a book from the library shelf, you look at different titles and select the one that interests you most. When you choose teams for kickball, you're deciding which players you want on your side.

Choosing involves thinking about what matters to you. You might choose chocolate ice cream over vanilla because you prefer the taste, or choose to study before playing video games because you care about doing well on tomorrow's test. Sometimes choices are easy (which color crayon to use), and sometimes they're harder (whether to tell a friend something that might hurt their feelings but that they need to know).

The past tense of choose is chose: “Yesterday I chose the window seat” or “She chose to join the debate team.” People sometimes confuse choose with chose, but remember that choose is happening now or in the future (I choose carefully, I will choose carefully), while chose already happened.

Everyone makes dozens of choices each day, from small ones like what to wear to bigger ones like how to treat others.