Which one the following is correct?
“I would like to attend the test on the alternate day provided in the website”
or
“I would like to attend the test on the alternate date provided in the website”
Thanks a lot
It’s most likely to be ‘date’ but both are possible, though it should be ‘alternative’ not ‘alternate’.
It should be ‘on the website’.
Bev, supposing that there are only two dates given, say 15 and 30, can’t we say ‘alternate’? If not, please bring out the difference through an example.
Beeesneees,
She was asked to attend on alternate(adj) days.
They meet on alternate(adj) Sundays.
These examples are from the dictionaries.
How is this sentence - ‘I would like to attend the test on the alternate date.’ wrrong?
The first two sentences are acceptable.
As regards the third I would say that it should be:
I can take the test on alternate days. (on Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday etc)
‘alternate’ indicates a pattern of every other time.
alternate days = this pattern: they don’t meet this day, they do meet the next day, they don’t meet the next day, they do meet the next day, etc.
alternate Sundays = this pattern: they don’t meet this Sunday, they do meet the next Sunday, they don’t meet the next Sunday, they do meet the next Sunday, etc.
Your explanation, I am afraid, is not clear, Bev.
alternate:
Occur in turn repeatedly
this Monday there is a test, next Monday there is no test, the following Monday there is a test, the Monday following that there is no test, and so the pattern continues.
In that case, I think, it should be possible for any two dates/days to have been given on the website so that the student could take the test on either date/day. Then, one date/day becomes the actual and the other the alternative. Please comment.
This situation would further mean that there should be some regular and repeated gap of time if we want to use alternate. If so, my illustration quoted below holds good. Please comment.
“I can take the test on alternate days. (on Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday etc)”
You seem to be arguing against what you said earlier (message #3) in your first paragraph. You are quite correct that the single other date is the ‘alternative’. That’s what I indicated in message #2.
The term ‘alternate’ does not work in the case where only two dates are given as there is no repeated pattern.
The original question clearly indicated ‘on the … date’ - so there in only one other date available - the alternative one.
Although the grammar is correct, from a logical perspective, I really cannot imagine a situation where anyone would wish to indicate that they are able to take a test on alternate days. It appears that you are simply trying to make the structure fit into a scenario.
I believe you know I am a non-native user of English. Please do not treat the discussion as an argument. It is an effort to learn the correct position. So, let’s patiently listen to each other.
I always comment on the posts on the basis of the understanding that I have had of a particular usage, and I would like any correction/clarification to be crystal clear so that my existing grasp of the usage, if found to be unacceptable, can be obliterated from my mind for ever, though it is a laborious task.
Now, you may examine this illustration borrowed from a British dictionary:
Alternate – arrange or perform by turns; cause to take place, appear, one after the other: He alternated kindness with severity - was kind, then severe, then kind again, and so on.
Further, as far as I understand, the alternating current is a cyclic process of crest and trough. If this is true, the dates of 15 and 30 could also be true. Be that as it may.
Now see this hypothetical situation:
The work-week is from Monday to Saturday.
Employees are allowed to attend the duties on alternate days.
Does this not mean that an employee can attend the office on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays? If not, how can we convey it to the employees?
Please do not take my contention amiss.
Beeesneees did not mean “arguing” in the sense of “having an argument”. She meant “arguing” as in “stating a position in a discussion”.
Thank you, Dozy. By the way, what do you think of what is going on with regard to ‘alternate’?
My opinion of “alternate” accords with the usage note at the bottom of oxforddictionaries.com/definitio … =alternate
In other words, as a BrE speaker, I view it as incorrect in BrE to use “alternate” when" alternative" is meant. It seems to me that the original sentence by Imsriram requires “alternative” in BrE.
Thank you for stepping in while I was off-line, Dozy. THL, I;d like to confirm that Dozy’s assessment of my meaning was correct.