organising contrast

The phrases “on the one hand” and “on the other hand” are used to introduce two contrasting points of view or arguments. They are often used in formal writing and in spoken English.

• On the one hand is used to introduce the first point of view or argument.
• On the other hand is used to introduce the second point of view or argument.

For example, you might say:

On the one hand, I’d like to get a job that pays more. On the other hand, I enjoy the work I’m doing now.

This sentence introduces two contrasting points of view: the desire to get a job that pays more, and the enjoyment of the current job.

The phrase “on the contrary” is also used to introduce a contrasting point of view, but it is used more forcefully than “on the other hand.” It is often used to contradict something that has just been said.

For example, you might say:

I don’t think he’s stupid. On the contrary, I think he’s very intelligent.

This sentence contradicts the statement that the person is stupid.

B1 point 4 in DISCOURSE MARKERS and in writing is defined as:

ORGANISING with a range of phrases as discourse markers to introduce contrasting statements.

The English Grammar Profile examples listed are:

‘on the one hand’, ‘on the other hand’ and ‘on the contrary’.

They seem to start sentences more often than not.

Ngrams from iWeb corpus:

1 . ON THE ONE HAND, THERE IS THE 86

  GPone English

Bagnaia: “Angry? No, I understand that I am a MotoGP rider

On the one hand, there is the anger, on the other, however, the awareness that this GP20 is finally expressing its potential. “What can I say, …

2 . ON THE ONE HAND, IT’S A 69
3 . ON THE ONE HAND, THERE IS A 62
4 . ON THE ONE HAND, YOU HAVE THE 59
5 . ON THE ONE HAND, WE HAVE THE 52
6 . ON THE ONE HAND, YOU WANT TO 47
7 . ON THE ONE HAND, IT IS A 43
8 . ON THE ONE HAND, THIS IS A 34
9 . ON THE ONE HAND, THERE’S THE 31
10 . ON THE ONE HAND, YOU HAVE A 31

There seems like more conditionality with ‘other’ which is also much more common:

1 . ON THE OTHER HAND, IF YOU ARE 1023
2 . ON THE OTHER HAND, IF YOU HAVE 729
3 . ON THE OTHER HAND, IF YOU’RE 663
4 . ON THE OTHER HAND, IF YOU WANT 469
5 . ON THE OTHER HAND, IF YOU DO 411
6 . ON THE OTHER HAND, THERE IS A 269
7 . ON THE OTHER HAND, I DON’T 239
8 . ON THE OTHER HAND, THERE ARE SOME 208
9 . ON THE OTHER HAND, THERE IS NO 200
10 . ON THE OTHER HAND, IF IT IS 171

1 . ON THE CONTRARY, IT IS A 112

The wheelchair is not a failure, on the contrary, it is a tool of freedom.

euronews.com

2 . ON THE CONTRARY, IT IS THE 90
3 . ON THE CONTRARY, THE COOLEST MONTH 64
4 . ON THE CONTRARY, THERE IS A 50
5 . ON THE CONTRARY, I BELIEVE THAT 32