bilakis / aksine

On the Contrary

Level 6

Bilakis, aksine, and tersine are used to refute a previous idea and introduce the opposite truth. While aksine and tersine are common and versatile, bilakis is more formal and emphatic.

How It Works

In Turkish, expressing 'on the contrary' involves three main words with slightly different behaviors:

  • Aksine / Tersine: These are the most common choices in modern Turkish and are largely interchangeable. Aksine is formed from the noun aksi (opposite) plus the dative case, literally meaning 'to the opposite'. They can stand alone as adverbs or act as postpositions. When used as a postposition, they require the preceding noun or pronoun to be in the genitive case (e.g., beklentilerimin aksine - contrary to my expectations).
  • Bilakis: An Arabic-origin word that is more formal or literary. It is strictly an adverb and cannot attach to nouns. It often carries a stronger nuance, implying 'not only is that not true, but the opposite is even more true.'

Becoming proficient in these patterns is essential for advanced discourse, allowing you to pivot from a false assumption to a corrected reality.

Examples (4)

  1. Hava soğuk değil, bilakis oldukça sıcak.

    The weather is not cold; on the contrary, it is quite hot.

    Word by Word: Weather cold not, on-the-contrary quite hot.

    Here, 'bilakis' is used as a formal adverb to correct the assumption that the weather is cold.

  2. Sana kızgın değilim. Aksine, yardımların için minnettarım.

    I am not angry at you. On the contrary, I am grateful for your help.

    Word by Word: To-you angry not-I-am. On-the-contrary, your-helps for grateful-I-am.

    This shows 'aksine' as a sentence-level adverb in a standard, natural context.

  3. Kardeşinin aksine o çok çalışkandır.

    Contrary to his brother, he is very hardworking.

    Word by Word: His-brother's contrary-to he very hardworking-is.

    In this example, 'aksine' acts as a postposition, requiring the genitive case on 'kardeşinin'.

  4. Beklenenin aksine enflasyon düştü.

    Contrary to what was expected, inflation fell.

    Word by Word: Expected-thing's contrary-to inflation fell.

    A common formal usage where 'aksine' follows a nominalized verb in the genitive case.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the wrong case with the postpositional 'aksine' or 'tersine'.

    Benden aksine o çok sessiz.
    Benim aksime o çok sessiz.

    When 'aksine' or 'tersine' is used to mean 'unlike' or 'contrary to [someone]', the noun or pronoun must be in the genitive case, not the ablative case.

  • Confusing 'aksine' with 'aksi takdirde'.

    Acele et, aksine geç kalacağız.
    Acele et, aksi takdirde geç kalacağız.

    'Aksine' means 'on the contrary' (contrast), while 'aksi takdirde' means 'otherwise' or 'if not' (conditional).

  • Attempting to use 'bilakis' as a postposition.

    Onun bilakis ben gitmedim.
    Onun aksine ben gitmedim.

    'Bilakis' is only an adverb and cannot be attached to a noun to mean 'unlike X'. Only 'aksine' or 'tersine' can function this way.

How It Connects

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

bilakis / aksineLevel 6On the Contrary

Learn This First

The pattern 'bilakis / aksine' is used to introduce a statement that contradicts or provides a strong alternative to a previous negative assertion. To use it effectively, learners should be comfortable with basic sentence structures, negation using 'değil', and the general concept of contrastive conjunctions.

Words in This Pattern

bilakisaksine