вопреки + Dative

Contrary to

Level 5Sounds Like vopreki + datelʹnyj

Use вопреки + dative case to express that something happened despite opposition, logic, or expectations. It is more formal and forceful than 'несмотря на'.

How It Works

At Level 5, it is important to distinguish вопреки from other concessive markers:

  • Case Government: It strictly requires the dative case. While you may encounter the genitive case in 19th-century literature (e.g., in Pushkin's works), this is an archaic usage and is considered a mistake in modern Russian.
  • Nuance of Defiance: While несмотря на is a neutral 'despite,' вопреки suggests a clash or active opposition. For example, вопреки прогнозу implies the forecast was specifically defied or proven wrong, whereas несмотря на прогноз simply means the forecast didn't stop the action.
  • Register and Word Order: This preposition is common in literary, journalistic, and official-business styles. While it usually precedes the noun, in poetic or elevated literary contexts, it can occasionally follow it (e.g., желанию вопреки).
  • Punctuation: Punctuation for phrases with вопреки is facultative (optional). Commas are often omitted if the phrase is short and closely linked to the predicate. Commas are typically used only if the phrase is particularly long, placed in the middle of a sentence, or if the author wishes to emphasize the concession.
  • Complex Conjunction: It can link to a clause using вопреки тому, что... ('contrary to the fact that...'), where тому is the dative placeholder.

Examples (4)

  1. Вопреки ожиданиям критиков, фильм стал лидером проката.

    Contrary to the critics' expectations, the film became a box-office leader.

    Word by Word: Contrary to expectations of critics, film became leader of rental.

    Here, 'ожиданиям' is in the dative plural, showing the result contradicted what was expected.

  2. Он уехал в экспедицию вопреки запрету врачей.

    He went on the expedition contrary to the doctors' prohibition.

    Word by Word: He left into expedition contrary to prohibition of doctors.

    This demonstrates defiance of a specific rule or order ('запрету' is dative singular).

  3. Вопреки здравому смыслу, они решили продолжать проект.

    Contrary to common sense, they decided to continue the project.

    Word by Word: Contrary to healthy sense, they decided to continue project.

    A common collocation used to describe actions that lack logical justification.

  4. Вопреки всему, мы сохранили нашу дружбу.

    Against all odds (contrary to everything), we preserved our friendship.

    Word by Word: Contrary to everything, we preserved our friendship.

    The dative pronoun 'всему' is used here to mean 'despite all obstacles' or 'against all odds'.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the Genitive case instead of the Dative.

    Вопреки прогнозов погоды, день был солнечным.
    Вопреки прогнозу погоды, день был солнечным.

    Learners often mistakenly use the genitive (прогнозов) because many other prepositions require it. Modern Russian strictly requires the dative (прогнозу).

  • Using 'вопреки' where 'несмотря на' is the neutral choice.

    Different MeaningВопреки дождю, мы пошли гулять.
    Несмотря на дождь, мы пошли гулять.

    The sentence is correct. 'Вопреки дождю' adds a feeling of defiance: you went out against the rain. 'Несмотря на дождь' just says the rain did not stop you.

How It Connects

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

вопреки + DativeLevel 5Contrary to

Learn This First

To use 'вопреки' correctly, a learner must be proficient in the dative case for both nouns and adjectives. It is also helpful to have experience with other non-spatial prepositions that govern the dative, such as 'благодаря'.

Words in This Pattern

вопреки