Which part of speech is 'chosen'?

Question

Hi teachers,Could you tell me which part of speech is 'chosen' in the following sentence? Is it an adjective?It was a perfect ring, perfectly chosen for her by someone who loved her.Thanks in advance

Terryxpress · Accepted Answer

It was a perfect ring, perfectly chosen for her by someone who loved her.

It was a perfect ring. It was perfectly chosen for her by someone who loved her.

Can you see that the 'it was' was omitted in forming the second clause, and the full sentence is in the passive voice? 'chosen' is the passive voice main verb.
compare
Someone who loved her chose that ring for her. (Active voice)

BillJ · Answer

Hi Thinking Spain

It was a perfect ring, perfectly chosen for her by someone who loved her.

No, "chosen" is not an adjective, but a past participle belonging to the verb part of speech category. Its function in your example is head of the underlined past-participial clause.

BillJ

Tenacious Learner · Answer

TerryxpressIt was a perfect ring. It was perfectly chosen for her by someone who loved her.

Hi,
Thank you for your reply.
Someome told me that chosen is modifying "ring." So it is an adjective.
It seems wrong.

Tenacious Learner · Answer

BillJNo, "chosen" is not an adjective, but a past participle belonging to the verb part of speech category. Its function in your example is head of the underlined past-participial clause.

Hi,
Thank you for your reply. Can you given another sentence where 'chosen' is head of the underlined past-participial clause?

Thanks in advance.
TS

BillJ · Answer

Thinking SpainHi,Thank you for your reply. Can you given another sentence where 'chosen' is head of the underlined past-participial clause?Thanks in advance.

Yes, I can. Here are three more:

Muhammad Ali, chosen for his incredible speed and agility, represented the US at the 1960 Olympics.

Chosen for being an accomplished player, Gordon Nikolitch was appointed 'first violin' with the LSO.

Each year, a fixed number of students chosen from the ethnic minorities are allocated places.

BillJ

Tenacious Learner · Answer

Hi BillJ,
Thank you for your sentences and sorry for my mistake.
I should have said, 'Could you give me another sentence ...' instead of 'Can you given another sentence...'

Having said that, could 'selected' be a good synonym for 'chosen'?
Best,
TS

BillJ · Answer

Thinking SpainHaving said that, could 'selected' be a good synonym for 'chosen'?

My Oxford Dictionary defines 'select' as 'carefully choose...', so yes, I think it could.

BillJ

Tenacious Learner · Answer

Hi BillJ,
Thank you for all your replies. No further questions at this point.

Best,
TS

Tenacious Learner · Answer

BillJIt was a perfect ring, perfectly chosen for her by someone who loved her.No, "chosen" is not an adjective, but a past participle belonging to the verb part of speech category. Its function in your example is head of the underlined past-participial clause

Hi BillJ,
Let me ask you another question about it.

It was a perfect ring, perfectly chosen for her by someone who loved her.
I completely understand that 'chosen' is part of the past participle clause.
And that we use the past participle to form perfect tenses:
have + participle. I have never BEEN to Paris. The train had LEFT when I arrived.
Also in passive sentences: to be + participle. Hamlet was WRITTEN by Shakespeare. My car has been STOLEN.
It was a perfect ring, perfectly chosen for her by someone who loved her.
But I am not sure if I understand the reason to use it in the sentence.
Is it because 'participle clauses' often function as adjectives, adding description to the sentence?

Thanks in advance.

BillJ · Answer

Thinking SpainIt was a perfect ring, perfectly chosen for her by someone who loved her.I completely understand that 'chosen' is part of the past participle clause.And that we use the past participle to form perfect tenses:have + participle. I have never BEEN to Paris. The train had LEFT when I arrived.Also in passive sentences: to be + participle. Hamlet was WRITTEN by Shakespeare. My car has been STOLEN.It was a perfect ring, perfectly chosen for her by someone who loved her. But I am not sure if I understand the reason to use it in the sentence.Is it because 'participle clauses' often function as adjectives, adding description to the sentence?

You're partly correct: it adds information, but it's not functioning as an adjective. When we analyse a sentence, it's a matter of syntax, not semantics. Of course, we know that the sentence means: 'it was some perfect ring that was perfectly chosen for her by someone who loved her'. Syntactically, participial clauses like the one in your example are called supplements - loosely attached expressions supplying additional information about something in the main clause. But they don't modify anything, like adjuncts, adjectives or relative clauses do; rather, they have an "anchor" somewhere in the main clause that they relate to. In this case the anchor is the noun phrase "a perfect ring".

Supplements are easy to spot. They are set apart from the main clause: in writing by punctuation marks, such as commas (as yours is), or dashes; and by a short pause in speech. They can often be moved to another part of the sentence, cf. "Perfectly chosen for her by someone who loved her, it was a perfect ring". And, they can always be removed from the sentence without disturbing the main clause.

BillJ

Which part of speech is 'chosen'?

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