Is the saying...

[mountainboo]

To the contrary OR on the contrary?

[squarebear]

on the contrary

[McMouse]

To the contrary

[squarebear]

lol I guess that sorted that one out then!

[squarebear]

Perhaps if you could give us an example of a sentence using it, we could help?

[McMouse]

as the opposite of what has been stated; contrary to what has been stated. The brown horse didn't beat the black horse. To the contrary, the black one won. Among spiders, the male is not the larger one. On the contrary, the female is larger.

[rowanwitch]

where is Markrae when you need him?

[squarebear]

As McMouse has said, both are correct. We need to know the situation where mountainboo would use this phrase.

[mountainboo]

lol, now I'm confused. It would be used in this context "thank you, that is not at all boring. On the contrary, the information you have provided..."

[squarebear]

I would stick with "on the contrary"

[mountainboo]

I'm happy with that, many thanks squarebear and all else x

[MarkRae]

> Where is Markrae when you need him?

You called...?

It's simple enough.

On the contrary implies a deliberate contradiction of the previous statement. E.g.

"That must have taken you hours!"
"On the contrary, it took no time at all."

In the above dialogue, you would not say "To the contrary, it took no time at all."


To the contrary, however, is used when you are demonstrating (or asking for) proof that something is the opposite of what has previously been claimed. E.g.

"The Americans definitely went to the moon!"
"I can show you plenty of evidence to the contrary."

In the above dialogue, you would not say "I can show you plenty of evidence on the contrary."