alternately
/ˈɔl.tɚ.nət.li/adverb
alternately is spelled A-L-T-E-R-N-A-T-E-L-Y: 11 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, alternately means “In reciprocal succession; succeeding by turns; in alternate order” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in alternately?
| Letters | 11: A-L-T-E-R-N-A-T-E-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.7 times per million words; the 21,798th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is alternately?
Alternately appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,798th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce alternately?
- UK [ɔːlˈtɜɹnətlɪ]
- UK /ɔlˈtə(ɹ)nətliː/
- US /ˈɔl.tɚ.nət.li/
Alternately has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-alternately.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What does alternately mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
In reciprocal succession; succeeding by turns; in alternate order.
Driving downtown is restricted to bikes with odd and even license plate numbers alternately by day of the month.
- 2
By alternation; when, in a proportion, the antecedent term is compared with antecedent, and consequent.
- 3
CanadaUSproscribedAlternatively.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Alternately in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense succeeding by turns:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | alternativement |
| German | abwechselnd, wechselweise, abwechslungsweise |
| Portuguese | alternadamente |
| Spanish | alternativamente, por turno |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does alternately come from?
From alternate + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).