Alternate means to switch back and forth between two things in a regular pattern. When you alternate which hand you use to bounce a basketball, you dribble with your right hand, then your left, then your right again. Traffic lights alternate between red and green. In many schools, students alternate between different subjects throughout the day: math, then English, then science, then back to math the next period.

The word can also describe every other one in a sequence. If your teacher asks students to read alternate paragraphs, one student reads the first paragraph, another reads the third, and a third reads the fifth, skipping the even-numbered ones in between.

As an adjective, alternate describes a backup option or substitute. An alternate route to school is a different way to get there if your usual path is blocked. Sports teams choose alternate players who can step in if a main player gets injured.

As a noun, an alternate is a person chosen to take someone else’s place if needed, such as an alternate on a sports team.

When you alternate responsibilities with a sibling, like taking turns washing and drying dishes, you're creating a system where neither person gets stuck doing the same task every time.