Either Alternative

The word alternative means a choice offered between two things. An alternative writ , for example, offers the alternative of choosing between the doing of a specified act or of showing cause why it is not done. Such propositions, therefore, as, "You are at liberty to choose either alternative," " Two alternatives are presented to me," " Several alternatives presented themselves," and the like, are not correct English. The word is correctly used thus: "I am confronted with a hard alternative : I must either denounce a friend or betray my trust." We rarely hear the word alternate or any of its derivatives correctly pronounced.