Jan 23, 2025 · Use the adjective “alternative” to mean the opposite of mainstream (e.g., “alternative music,” “alternative medicine”). Use the adjective “alternate” to mean changing …

Commonly confused words - To alternate is to take turns; an alternative is an option. When you wear your checkered blazer, the black and white squares alternate. But if you're not feeling like …

Alternate can be used as a verb or an adjective. As a noun, it means “one thing that can substitute for another”: I wasn’t chosen for the debate team, but I will serve as an alternate if another …

In British English, an alternative version is one that can be considered as a possible choice, while an alternate one changes places at regular intervals with another version. However, I …

Is it alternative or alternate date? Although both can refer to a different or backup option, typically alternate refers to an action of rotating or taking turns while alternative usually refers to …

“Alternative” is about offering a substitute or another possibility when the usual option isn’t available or desirable. Although these words can sometimes overlap in casual use, their …

May 1, 2013 · Typically, “alternate” has been used to mean one after the other (or by turns), while “alternative” has been used to mean one instead of the other. In her grammar and usage book …

Alternate rhymes with date. Come up with a sentence using both words to help you remember the context in which to use it. For example: We like to alternate between going on dinner dates …

Jun 12, 2024 · In past tense, it is ‘alternated’; in the present continuous tense, it is ‘alternating’. It means ‘to follow one another in time or place reciprocally’ or ‘to change about by turns …

Feb 16, 2022 · But some usage experts recommend observing the following distinction: choose alternate to mean taking turns or one thing succeeding another by turns, and choose …

Jun 19, 2017 · The words alternate and alternative have become interchangeable nowadays but they actually have different uses and meanings. As a noun, the term alternate refers to “one …

‘Alternate’ (adj) means ‘every other’ (e.g. alternate days) or ‘each thing following or succeeded by the other in a regular pattern’. ‘Alternative’ (adj) means ‘available as another possibility or …

Mar 4, 2021 · Alternate and Alternative might seem like the same word, just in different word forms, but they’re actually two separate words. Alternate can be a verb or an adjective. The …