Learn English – Can “on the other hand” be used without its “On the one hand”

word-usage

Is it grammatically OK to use only one part of "On the one hand… . On the other hand…."?

On the one hand they'd love to have kids, but on the other, they don't want to give up their freedom [OALD 8].

Opposed to the preceding example, can I say?

They'd love to have kids. On the other, they don't want to give up their freedom.

Best Answer

On the one hand they'd love to have kids, but on the other, they don't want to give up their freedom.

We do not need to use the phrase on the one hand, before the first sentence if we do not want to. It can make things more interesting for the reader if we do though, because they will be waiting for the new and different piece of information.

However, let's look at the original sentence again:

  • On the one hand they'd love to have kids, but on the other, they don't want to give up their freedom.

Notice that because we already used hand in the first part of the sentence we don't need to use it again in the second part. We can just say on the other, instead of on the other hand. But - if we didn't say On the one hand, we need to use the full phrase 'On the other hand', we cannot just say 'on the other':

  • They'd love to have kids. *On the other, they don't want to give up their freedom. (wrong)
  • They'd love to have kids. On the other hand, they don't want to give up their freedom. (good)

Hope this is helpful!

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