～反面
while / on the other hand
～反面（はんめん）literally means “the opposite face”. It joins two clauses that describe two coexisting sides of the same thing, typically one positive and one negative.
In English it maps to “while” or “but on the other hand”. It is stronger than a plain けど or が, because both sides must genuinely be true of one and the same topic.
Two sides of one thing
State one aspect, attach 反面, then give the contrasting aspect of the same subject.
便利な反面、危険もある。
“It's convenient, but on the other hand it's also dangerous.”
- 便利な（べんりな）= convenient
- 反面（はんめん）= on the other hand / while
- 危険（きけん）= danger
- も = also
- ある = there is
都会の生活は楽しい反面、お金がかかる。
“City life is fun, but on the other hand it costs money.”
- 都会（とかい）= the city
- の = linking particle
- 生活（せいかつ）= life, living
- は = topic marker
- 楽しい（たのしい）= fun
- 反面（はんめん）= on the other hand
- お金がかかる（おかねがかかる）= costs money
How to form it
Plain-form clause + 反面 (な-adjectives take な; nouns take である)
- 便利（べんり）= convenient → 便利な反面（べんりなはんめん）= while it's convenient
- 楽しい（たのしい）= fun → 楽しい反面（たのしいはんめん）= while it's fun
- 給料がいい（きゅうりょうがいい）= the pay is good → 給料がいい反面（きゅうりょうがいいはんめん）= while the pay is good
Key idea
～反面 is like looking at two sides of the same coin: the same thing has both a bright side and a dark side.
Other N2 grammar
Updated .