"On The Contrary" or "In Contrast"?

Below is a transcript of the video.

“On the contrary” and “in contrast” are two phrases I see students confuse all the time in their writing.

In fact, in the most recent term, several students have told me they thought these two phrases were interchangeable — and were surprised when I told them they’re not.

So what is the difference between “on the contrary” and “in contrast”? And which should you use and when? 

Before we dive into the answer, if you’re new here I’m Dr Clare Lynch of the Doris and Bertie writing school and I’m on a mission to help you become a better, more confident writer. 

So let’s dive in with the difference between “on the contrary” and “in contrast”.

So the first thing I’ve noticed from my students’ writing is that it mostly seems to be the phrase “on the contrary” that they misuse.

In that they tend use “on the contrary” when they should be using “in contrast”, and it doesn’t (I don’t think) seem to happen the other way around. 

So you need to be particularly careful if you’re tempted to use “on the contrary”. It’s with this one that you need to really think twice.

So here’s the difference between the two phrases.

ON THE CONTRARY

You should only use On the contrary when you want to introduce a statement that rebuts, contradicts or denies a previous statement - and does so quite forcefully.

For example:

I thought Jim didn’t like anchovies. On the contrary, he loves them.

So here, “on the contrary” introduces a statement that contradicts our original belief that Jim dislikes anchovies. We could replace “on the contrary” with phrases like:

“Actually, the opposite is true:” or “That’s wrong,” or “Quite the reverse,”

IN CONTRAST

Let’s compare that example with this”

Jim dislikes anchovies. In contrast, Jane loves them.

Here, we’re not introducing a denial or rebuttal or contradiction of the point that Jim dislikes anchovies. 

The statement that he dislikes them remains true and his dislike of anchovies isn’t affected by the separate point about Jane’s love of them. 

Both statements are true but they present different realities.

So here, it would be confusing to replace “in contrast” with something like “the opposite is true” or “that’s wrong”. More accurate synonyms would be:

“Unlike him,” or “Different from him,”.

So remember, “on the contrary” introduces a statement that contradicts the previous point. And it can be replaced with something like “that statement I’ve just written is wrong!” 

But “In contrast” introduces a statement that simply contrasts with or provides a juxtaposition to the previous point. And it can be replaced with something like “different from that statement I’ve just written ”.

So, did you find that explanation useful

Have you, up until now, been confusing the phrases “on the contrary” and “in contrast”?

Let me know in the comments!

In the meantime, I’m Dr Clare Lynch of the Doris and Bertie Writing School. 

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