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# alternation

«alternation» in Mova's school dictionary: **The pattern of one thing following another again and…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (alternation, alternations)

### meaning for a pupil

The pattern of one thing following another again and again, like day and night or red then blue. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alternation/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

In maths: an alternating pattern (1, 2, 1, 2 …). In science: the alternation of day and night, of seasons, of tides. In poetry: alternation of strong and weak beats. Phrases: alternation of, regular alternation.

### examples

- The alternation of day and night is caused by Earth spinning. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alternation/#x1)
- The pattern shows an alternation of red and blue beads. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alternation/#x2)
- There is an alternation of high and low tides. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alternation/#x3)
- The song has an alternation of loud and soft parts. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alternation/#x4)
- The alternation between sun and rain made a rainbow. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alternation/#x5)
- Look for the alternation in the number pattern 3, 7, 3, 7. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alternation/#x6)

### note

Formal; from the verb alternate (take turns). Do not confuse with "alteration" (a change). In a pattern with alternation of two items, the item at an odd place is the first one and at an even place the second.

### Trees and pragmatics

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