Contrast

English can express contrasts: with conjunctions, adverbs and prepositions. Knowing exactly how to use each type of contrast is one of the more advanced points of English. This unit looks at the most common ways of contrasting information.

CONJUNCTIONS OF CONTRAST

• A contrast between two clauses can be one simply of difference between the ideas Expressing expressed in them. The most common way of expressing a simple difference in English is with but:

Life expectancy in Japan is now over 80 butit is several years lower in the UK.

Other conjunctions which express simple differences are while, whereas and whilst. While is more informal than whereas; whilst is very formal:

Reds and yellows are warm colours, whereasblues and greens are cool.

While only 84 people died on the railways last year, more than 5,000 died on the roads.

We can put a clause starting with while, whilst or whereas either before or after the main clause, but a clause starting with but has to come second:

I've got twosisters, whilemy best friend has got two brothers.

While I've got two sisters, my best friend has got two brothers.

X ButI’ve got two sisters, my best friend has two brothers.

My best friend has got two brothers butI've got two sisters.

The clause introduced by the conjunction is usually the one which carries more emphasis or introduces something new to the discourse. We always separate clauses with while, whereas and whilst with a comma. This is not usually necessary when we use but.

• There is another type of contrast in English, where the idea of one clause is in some way opposing the idea of the other, and which often expresses an element of surprise. For example, we may feel that it is surprising to pay a lot of money for a meal in a restaurant and to find that the food is awful, or to fail an exam after studying hard:

Although we paid an enormous amount of money for the meal, the food was terribly disappointing.

Derek failed the exam buthe had studied really hard for it

Derek failed the exam, althoughhe had studied really hard for it.

We use the conjunctions but, (al)though and even though to introduce the fact or idea in opposition to information in the main clause. Note that the subordinate clause can precede the main clause:

Although he had studied really hard for the exam, Derek failed it.

Remember that but does not introduce a subordinate clause and that a clause starting with but cannot precede the other clause in the sentence.

It is often possible to start either clause in a sentence with a conjunction, depending on which clause has the information we consider 'surprising' and which we want to focus on. Compare these examples:

Little is known about the artist's early life although a lot has been found out about