How to Show Contrast Relationships in your Essay

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use subordinating conjunctions, conjunctive adverbs, and phrases to show contrast in your essay. Contrast relationships help you present two sides of an argument clearly and logically.

Let’s begin with a sample essay topic:

We’ll write an introductory paragraph that shows both sides of the argument before giving our own opinion. Since we are presenting two opposite opinions, this paragraph will naturally include a contrast relationship.

Here are other common conjunctive adverbs used to show contrast:

These expressions can be used interchangeably. They all mean “in an opposite way.”

Here are two introductory paragraphs that use On the contrary and By contrast to express contrast.

In the last example, the phrase “That is” introduces a restatement of the previous sentence. Similar expressions include “In other words” and “To put it simply”. These are used to show a reformulation relationship — when you explain the same idea in different words.

Now, let’s move on to another type of contrast — the concession relationship.

A concession relationship occurs when one idea is true, but another, surprising idea follows. It shows that something happens even though we might not expect it to.

Here are some conjunctive adverbs that show concession:

Let’s look at an example paragraph using Nevertheless to show concession.

Why does the writer use “Nevertheless”? Let’s analyze it.

The writer first explains that developed countries are taking strong environmental action. Then the writer presents a surprising opposite idea — developing countries are unhappy about these restrictions. “Nevertheless” introduces this unexpected contrast.

Other words that mean the same as “Nevertheless” include “However” and “Nonetheless.” You can use them interchangeably to show concession.

You can use the following prepositional phrases to show contrast:

in contrast to, as opposed to, contrary to

Let’s look at an introductory paragraph using the phrase “in contrast to.”

As you can see, the writer uses “in contrast to” to show that their opinion is very different from the main or popular view.

We often use “in contrast to” when we want to say that one thing is very different from another. Here are some more examples:

We can also use “as opposed to” and “contrary to” to show contrast. Look at the examples below:

The phrases “in contrast to,” “as opposed to,” and “contrary to” show a clear contrast between two ideas. Now let’s look at “despite” and “in spite of.”

We use “despite” or “in spite of” to show that something happens even though another fact makes it surprising or unexpected.

Here’s an example:

This sentence could be rephrased as:

Another example:

Remember! “Despite” and “in spite of” are prepositions, so they must be followed by a noun or a gerund (–ing form).

For example, the following sentence is incorrect:

The correct sentences would be:

We can also use “despite the fact that” or “in spite of the fact that” before a full clause:

These expressions are very common in academic writing and are great for showing unexpected contrasts or surprising results.

Let’s take a look at some useful subordinating conjunctions that can show contrast between two ideas:

Although and even though work similarly to despite and in spite of. The difference is that although and even though are conjunctions, so they must be followed by a clause (a full sentence with a subject and a verb).

Let’s look at a paraphrasing example:

See how the meaning stays the same? We simply changed the preposition despite to the conjunction although.

Let’s try another example:

Both sentences express the same idea — one shows a contrast using a preposition (in spite of), and the other shows it using a conjunction (even though).

While and whereas are also subordinating conjunctions that show contrast between two clauses. They are often used to compare two facts or opinions that are opposite or very different.

Let’s see how we can paraphrase this paragraph using whereas:

Here’s the paraphrased version using whereas:

Another paraphrasing example:

Here are a few more example sentences using while and whereas:

In short, while and whereas are great tools for comparing two complete ideas and showing contrast between them in a formal, academic way.