 | |
| Share / Tweet / Pin Me! | |
Essential French Expression
| Meaning | on the contrary, quite the contrary, just the opposite | |
| Literally | to the contrary | |
| Register | normal | |
| Pronunciation |  | [oh ko(n) trehr] |
| IPA | [o kɔ̃ tʀɛʀ] | |
Usage notes: When you want to not only deny a statement, but claim just the opposite, use the French expression au contraire as a stand-alone interjection or conjunction.
Par exemple…
| Je n’ai pas besoin de ton portable ; au contraire, j’allais t’offrir le mien. | I don’t need your cellphone; on the contrary, I was going to offer you mine. | |
| – Tu détestes ma peinture. – Au contraire, elle est extraordinaire ! | – You hate my painting. – On the contrary, it’s extraordinary! |
You can emphasize the contradiction by modifying au contraire with the adverbs bien or tout.
Par exemple…
| Il ne valorise pas les sciences, tout au contraire. | He doesn’t value science, just the opposite. | |
| – Est-ce que tu vas abandonner le projet ? – Bien au contraire ! J’ai encore plein d’idées. | – Are you going to give up on the project? – Quite the contrary! I still have tons of new ideas. |
Au contraire can also be used with the preposition de plus a noun or clause to mean “contrary to.” This is synonymous with à l’encontre de.
Par exemple…
| Au contraire des résultats de mon collègue, mon étude indique une amélioration perceptible. | Contrary to my colleague’s results, my study indicates a noticeable improvement. | |
| Au contraire de ce que tu prétends, cela n’est pas le cas. | Contrary to / Despite what you claim, that is not the case. |
Au contraire in action
Examples of au contraire in real-life videos from Lawless French Immersion:
| Emmanuel Macron, au contraire, sort renforcé du premier tour | Emmanuel Macron, in contrast, emerged stronger in the first round | |
| Video: France-England, Oasis, terrorism and Brexit | ||
| Pour exprimer un assentiment ou au contraire un refus | To express an assent or on the contrary a refusal | |
| Video: France: EU election turnout highest in 25 years | ||
| Hugh Everett III n’a pas eu le prix Nobel pour avoir publié ce papier pour sa thèse, au contraire, il a abandonné la physique | Hugh Everett III didn’t get the Nobel Prize because he published this paper with his thesis, on the contrary, he abandoned physics | |
| Video: Exploring parallel universes | ||
| Alors le gars, il ne m’a pas découragé, au contraire, parce que je suis de nature assez têtue | So the guy didn’t dishearten me, on the contrary, because I am a rather stubborn guy | |
| Video: The African kimono | ||
En anglais
Au contraire has the same meaning in English, though it tends to be used ironically. It’s often playfully turned into au contraire mon frère – literally, "on the contrary, my brother." Note that you should never say this in French unless you’re actually talking to your brother.
Related lessons
Share / Tweet / Pin Me!
This free website is created with love and a great deal of work.
Feel free to say “au contraire mon frere” if you are in a French church where everybody refers to each other as brother or sister