How to Express a Contrary Opinion in Spanish

Ways to Disagree With What Has Been Said or Implied

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Sometimes a simple nothe same word translated in English and Spanish, is not sufficient to express disagreement with what someone has said or implied. In polite company or when discussing a topic, phrases like, "on the contrary," help express differences in opinion.

As in English, "on the contrary," means "not at all" or "quite the opposite" in Spanish, too. There are a several ways to say this in Spanish.

Examples of Being Contrary in Spanish

Two common ways of saying "on the contrary" in Spanish are the adverbial phrases al  contrario or, somewhat more formally, por el contrario.

"Quite the opposite," is expressed in Spanish by using the adverb, opuestamente. These phrases all express "being contrary" and are common in both writing and speech. 

Spanish Sentence English Translation
Al contrario, son muy buenas noticias. On the contrary, it's very good news.
Por el contrario, no ha habido crecimiento de empleos en el sector privado. On the contrary, there has not been employment growth in the private sector.
Creo al contrario de lo que usted dice va a pasar. I believe the opposite of what you say is going to happen.
¿Crees que la gente no puede cambiar? ¡Opuestamente, sí que pueden! Do you think that people can not change? Quite the opposite, they can!

Other Ways to Express Disagreement

Spanish has many other ways of expressing disagreement, such as in English, exclamatory phrases like "No way!" can get the point across.

Spanish Sentence English Translation
De ninguna manera el gobierno central permitirá la anarquía. In no way will the government allow anarchy.
Yo no estoy de acuerdo. I don't agree
No creo. I don't believe so.
No lo veo así. I don't see it that way.
Entiendo lo que quieres decir, pero... I know what you mean, but...
Estoy de acuerdo hasta cierto punto. I agree to a certain point.
¿Y tú, vas a estudiar? ¡Qué va! And you, are you going to study? No way!
¡Oye, esa moneda es mía! Hold on there, that coin is mine!
Cree que Windows es más seguro que Linux. ¡Ni hablar! He believes Windows is more secure than Linux. No way!

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Erichsen, Gerald. "How to Express a Contrary Opinion in Spanish." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/on-the-contrary-3079227. Erichsen, Gerald. (2023, April 5). How to Express a Contrary Opinion in Spanish. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/on-the-contrary-3079227 Erichsen, Gerald. "How to Express a Contrary Opinion in Spanish." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/on-the-contrary-3079227 (accessed March 29, 2024).