alternatively

As a sentence adverb, alternatively is used to draw attention to another option or possibility. In can be used within as well as across sentences, as the following examples show:

• If you would like to make an appointment, please fill in the online form. Alternatively, you may phone the office at 898-764534.
• The council may, alternatively, within three months suggest a different procedure to deal with the issue.
• The applicants will be asked to wait in Room 45; alternatively, they may go to the cafeteria if they wish to have a coffee before the interview.

When alternatively is used mid-sentence, it is usually surrounded by commas.
It can be replaced by as an alternative, instead, and otherwise, depending on the context of the sentence.

NB: Alternatively does not mean "if this is/was not the case", i.e., in circumstances different from those present or considered. Therefore, we cannot say:

• I only continued with the study because it was so well paid, alternatively I would have quit.

Instead, we use the adverb otherwise:

• I only continued with the study because it was so well paid, otherwise I would have quit.