The phrase "given a (the) chance" I've recently come across the phrase "given the chance" ("Many people are capable of learning a foreign language given the chance") I'm trying to define it as a part

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Olga the Obscure

The phrase "given a (the) chance" I've recently come across the phrase "given the chance" ("Many people are capable of learning a foreign language given the chance") I'm trying to define it as a particular syntactical form, but I haven't succeeded in that. I know that "given" is a past participle, and I understand the meaning of the phrase, but is there a name for this structure? Does it work with some other verbs as well? Could you give me examples with "given a chance" VS "given THE chance" - as a Russian speaker, I still struggle with the articles in English... Thanks in advance!

Dec 15, 2015 8:02 PM

Answers · 4

'Given a chance' and 'given the chance' are almost interchangeable phrases. They are used to designate a hypothetical situation are therefore are in the subjunctive. "Given the chance, I would attend the conference again." (here the phrase 'If I were' is assumed to exist in the beginning) "Given another chance, she would say yes." (Here 'another' takes the place of 'a' to designate a repeat action that has not yet occurred, thus the subjunctive use of the past participle.

December 15, 2015

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