English Usage - alternative.

The adjective alternate is sometimes used in place of alternative, especially in American English. In British English the two words continue to be quite distinct: alternative means ‘available as another possibility or choice’, as in some European countries follow an alternative approach, while alternate means ‘every other or every second’, as in they meet an alternate Sunday, or, when referring to two things, ‘each following the other in a regular pattern’, as in alternate layers of potato and sauce. The use of alternate to mean alternative, as in we will need to find alternate sources of fuel, is common in North America, and many US dictionaries now record it as equivalent in this meaning to alternative, but in British English it is not yet considered good style.
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