A choice or two choices?

How shall I get to work?

Answer 1: "You have two choices: the train and the bus".

Answer 2: "You have a choice: the train or the bus".

Clearly the word "choice" has different meanings in these two answers. In the first it refers to either one of the things you might choose. In the second it refers to your ability (or in other contexts your right) to choose between those things. I think it is also clear (but correct me if you disagree) that both answers are absolutely standard in American English (and I would guess in British English as well). It also appears to me that the answers carry exactly the same meaning, even though they use the word "choice" to mean two different things.

Question: Is there any circumstance in which the two answers would convey even slightly different shades of meaning?

Is there any circumstance in which the two answers would convey even slightly different shades of meaning?

Yes:

• Do I have to take the train?

  1. You have two choices: the train and the bus.

  2. a) You have a choice: the train or the bus [; you can also take the tram].

     b) You have a choice between taking the train and taking the bus [; you can also take the tram].

  In response 1, choices means options. In response 2, a choice refers to the freedom to choose; that freedom is foregrounded in response 2a.

  Response 1, by specifying the count two, presents its list as exhaustive; by contrast, the exhaustivity of the specified options in response 2 is pragmatically suggested rather than semantically entailed.

  Accordingly, if for whatever reason I were trying to discourage someone from taking the tram, I could word my response as 2b or even 2a, whereas response 1 would be a lie.

• How many ways are there to get to work?

  1. You have two choices: the train and the bus.
  2. You have a choice: the train or the bus.

  Same contrast as above.
  Additionally, response 1 is more direct than response 2.

By constrast, in the following scenario, there is no meaningful difference between options 1a, 1b and 2:

• Do I have any choice in the matter?
  1. a) You have two choices: one is to apologise; the other is to leave.
     b) You have two choices: apologise or leave.
       [Notice that using and wouldn't work as well here.]
  2. You have a choice: apologise or leave.

Like the previous assertions, these three indicate the availability of the alternatives. Unlike the previous assertions, however, they're additionally (pragmatically) signalling that a choice must be made, and might ironically be offering no real choice.