hins vegar / aftur á móti

On the Other Hand

Level 5

Veðrið var gott. Hins vegar var mjög kalt. (The weather was nice. On the other hand, it was very cold.)

How It Works

At the start. When hins vegar or aftur á móti opens the sentence, it fills the first place, so the verb comes next: Hins vegar var mjög kalt. Aftur á móti er rólegt í sveitinni. The placeholder það drops out when something else comes first: Það var kalt → Hins vegar var kalt. See verb-second word order and expletive það.

Inside the sentence. Both can also come after the verb: Íbúðin er lítil. Hún er hins vegar mjög ódýr. Konan mín drekkur aftur á móti bara te.

Compared with en and samt. en (but) joins two clauses inside one sentence with normal order: Veðrið var gott en það var kalt. hins vegar and aftur á móti sound a little more formal and often start a new sentence. They set two facts side by side. To say that something happens in spite of what came before, use samt or engu að síður.

Two sides. annars vegar ... hins vegar sets out two sides of a matter: Annars vegar er starfið vel launað, hins vegar er vinnutíminn langur. (On the one hand the job is well paid; on the other hand the hours are long.)

Spelling. Write hins vegar as two words, not hinsvegar.

Examples (5)

  1. Veðrið var gott. Hins vegar var mjög kalt.

    The weather was nice. On the other hand, it was very cold.

    Word by Word: The-weather was good. On-the-other way was very cold.

    var comes right after hins vegar, and það drops out.

  2. Íbúðin er lítil. Hún er hins vegar mjög ódýr.

    The apartment is small. It is very cheap, however.

    Word by Word: The-apartment is small. It is on-the-other way very cheap.

  3. Ég drekk kaffi. Konan mín drekkur aftur á móti bara te.

    I drink coffee. My wife, on the other hand, only drinks tea.

    Word by Word: I drink coffee. The-wife my drinks back on against just tea.

  4. Í Reykjavík er mikið um að vera. Aftur á móti er rólegt í sveitinni.

    There is a lot going on in Reykjavík. In the countryside, by contrast, it is quiet.

    Word by Word: In Reykjavík is much about to be. Back on against is quiet in the-countryside.

    er comes right after aftur á móti.

  5. Annars vegar er starfið vel launað, hins vegar er vinnutíminn langur.

    On the one hand the job is well paid; on the other hand the hours are long.

    Word by Word: Other way is the-job well paid, the-other way is the-working-time long.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping subject-first order after hins vegar.

    Hins vegar það var mjög kalt.
    Hins vegar var mjög kalt.

    hins vegar fills the first place of the sentence, so the verb var must come next. The placeholder það then drops out.

  • Writing hins vegar as one word.

    Hinsvegar var mjög kalt.
    Hins vegar var mjög kalt.

    The standard spelling is two words: hins vegar.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

hins vegar / aftur á mótiLevel 5On the Other Hand

Learn This First

On the other hand builds on en.

Words in This Pattern

hinsvegurafturá móti