An option might be to build a warehouse along with the fertilizer plant, no matter which alternate was selected. The alternative is not to build a fertilizer plant in which case one might buy an existing fertilizer plant, instead. A little while back, I made a CD of photographs to be taken to a local shop for printing. My wife remonstrated something she does keenly and asked why there was an apostrophe. So, I was being told to make a deliberate grammatical mistake and not use the apostrophe so that ignorant people would not think that I was also ignorant.
Three Alternatives? By Hugh Ashton. Stop making those embarrassing mistakes! Subscribe to Daily Writing Tips today! You will improve your English in only 5 minutes per day, guaranteed!
You'll also get three bonus ebooks completely free! Try It Free Now. Good discussion, Hugh. Brad K. As a noun, an alternate can be a deputy, a substitute. Hugh Ashton on November 06, pm codebeard — yes, I did consider this exact point when I was writing the piece. Jan Timmons on November 08, am Pedantic? Hugh Ashton on November 09, am Jan Timmons — good point. Jan Timmons on November 09, am Hugh, I know that sometimes proper usage might sound wrong, but my argument is that we those who know better should not contribute to poor grammar, particularly not in a website such as yours.
Adam on November 12, pm I think this is one of those lovely topics which people get too wrapped up in a strict and incomplete definition instead of using logic. I know you! Guess where i have found an explanation of this: here on Daily Writing Tips.
You want fun? Leave a comment: Cancel comment Name required :. Email address required :. Diaspora, an alternative to Facebook, was founded by four New York University students in People often say alternate when they mean alternative , maybe because it's shorter.
No one's going to freak out if you mix them up, but use alternate for what those checkerboard squares do on your rock star blazer, and save alternative to describe the music it makes you want to crank up. On a checkerboard, black squares alternate with white ones. As a verb, alternate means to do something in turns. As a noun, an alternate is a replacement.
Continue reading When you're facing a fork in the road, you have two possibilities, or alternatives. You could take the left fork and see where it leads, or you could choose the path that goes to the right. As a noun, it's a substitute, like the alternate who takes over for you in a game or in a jury: Several, including alternates , have taken notes and kept lists of evidence.
Washington Post As a verb it refers to the act of something going back and forth: So it went on all day—heavy showers that lasted for a few minutes alternating with brief, bright intervals.
Herbert Strang As an adjective, it describes two options taken in turns: The alternate jersey will have an interlocking SD on the left chest. But prescriptivists tend not to like such overlapping usage, preferring to simplify even if it means imposing unfounded rules cf. Or was that another Edward? I would always naturally write swathe, and swath looks odd to me.
Turning to the enTenTen12 corpus I see that swath outnumbers swathe by about two to one, but this would not shake my preference for the longer form, any more than I would start writing color, or gotten, unless I was deliberately trying to write in US English.
Thanks, Liz, good to hear. Edward, I spend far more time than is good for me reading the Guardian, especially when I should be working, but this particular quirk had passed me by. Right — have a look at their style guide. They make quite a point of using swath, citing etymology. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
Language and words in the news — 23rd May, You may also like. Stan Carey Stan Carey is a freelance editor, proofreader and writer from the west of Ireland.
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