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# alternately

«alternately» in Mova's school dictionary: **first one thing, then the other, again and again, taking…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

adverb (alternately)

### meaning for a pupil

Alternately means first one thing, then the other, again and again, taking turns. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alternately/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

Used in maths patterns (red and blue beads placed alternately), instructions in cooking and crafts, PE and stories («she was alternately laughing and crying»).

### examples

- Thread red and blue beads alternately. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alternately/#x1)
- The light flashed red and green alternately. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alternately/#x2)
- We took turns alternately to read a page. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alternately/#x3)
- She was alternately happy and sad all day. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alternately/#x4)
- Plant the tulips and daffodils alternately. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alternately/#x5)
- Hop alternately on your left and right foot. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alternately/#x6)
- Superstition made her alternately shudder with cold or burn with the heat of fever. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alternately/#x7)

### note

Confusing pair: «alternately» means taking turns (A, B, A, B); «alternatively» means «as another choice» («We could walk; alternatively, we could take the bus»). In maths: in a pattern placed alternately, items 1, 3, 5... are one kind and items 2, 4, 6... are the other; with 10 beads, 5 of each.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «alternately» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alternately/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.
