[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/contradict.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / contradict

[← C](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/C/)

# contradict

«contradict» in Mova's school dictionary: **to say the opposite of what they have said, showing you…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (contradict, contradicts, contradicted, contradicting)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To contradict someone means to say the opposite of what they have said, showing you think they are wrong. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contradict/#m1)

2) If two facts or statements contradict each other, they cannot both be true. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contradict/#m2)

3) To contradict yourself means to say two things that do not fit together. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contradict/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In maths and science, a result that contradicts your prediction shows the prediction was wrong; in logic, two statements that contradict cannot both be true. In detective stories, a witness whose stories contradict each other may be lying. In manners lessons, contradicting adults rudely is discouraged, but polite disagreement is fine. Phrases: «contradict each other», «contradict yourself», «don't contradict me».

### examples

- The two witnesses contradicted each other. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contradict/#x1)
- "Don't contradict your grandfather," said Mum. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contradict/#x2)
- The results of our test contradicted our prediction. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contradict/#x3)
- You just contradicted yourself: first you said yes, then no. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contradict/#x4)
- The new evidence contradicts his story. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contradict/#x5)
- It's fine to contradict someone politely if you have facts. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contradict/#x6)
- "All odd numbers end in 1" is contradicted by the number 3. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contradict/#x7)
- "Will you dare to contradict me?" said the step-mother. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contradict/#x8)

### note

Regular verb: contradicted, contradicting. Noun: contradiction; adjective: contradictory. Prefix «contra-» means against, «dict» means say. In maths, one counter-example is enough to contradict a rule that says "all".

### In the corpora

- [When two stories contradict each other and there is no proof, the honest answer is «we don't know».](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/45-the-royal-family-in-the-news-a-queens-death-a-coronation-titles-lost-and-illnesses-announced/25/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «contradict» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contradict/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.