Predestined:

[Xavier da Silva]

Hello everyone,

In Portuguese, we usually use the equivalent of "predestined" to say in a sort of mystical way that "somebody is/was born to do something really special or spectacular, for example, in sports (soccer, formula 1, etc)'' or in charity. My question: Does "predestined" sound natural/correct in the examples I made below?

a. John is a predestined player. Scoring at the last minute, leading his team to victory was amazing!
b. Jane was a predestined person. She wrote a lot of books, never used much of the money she got and donated everything to charity.

Thank you in advance!

 

[se16teddy]

No, the word "predestined" is suitable for theological or philosophical texts, not for football commentaries and other journalism. Some possibilities:
He was born to ...
He was always going to ...
He is not cut out to ...
It was his way to ...
But these tend to refer to inherent aspects of his personality or other circumstances rather than to anything astrological.

 

[Xavier da Silva]

Thank you.

No, the word "predestined" is suitable for theological or philosophical texts, not for football commentaries and other journalism

Do you think "predestined" fits in the example below, as I'm talking about a person who dedicated her life to helping other people and talking about religious aspects of life applied to improvement of behavior?

b. Jane was a predestined person. She wrote a lot of books, never used much of the money she got and donated everything to charity.

Thank you in advance!

 

[Edinburgher]

We would not really use "predestined" as a prefix adjective to a noun (a predestined person). We would tend to use it with an infinitive: He was predestined to become a great orator.
I think we'd be more likely to use it without "pre": She was destined to become... or She was destined for higher things.
Or just use the equivalent noun: It was his destiny to...