逆に means "the other way round": what happened, or what is true, is the reverse of what you expected or of what was just said. It is an adverb, so it sits at the head of the clause it reverses, usually after a first half ending in or .
、。
I started a diet, but I actually put on weight.
、。
I thought I would be told off, but I was praised instead.
、。
I tried to help, but I only got in the way.
逆に or かえって
also gives a result opposite to the one expected, and in that use either word works. Only 逆に can turn a situation around – the other side of a point, or two people swapping roles.
、。
I meant to teach him, but he ended up teaching me.
、。
It is expensive, but put the other way, that means the quality is good.
- × 値段は高いが、かえって言えば → 値段は高いが、逆に言えば
, "to put it the other way", is a set phrase for restating a point from the opposite side.
In conversation
Said at the start of a sentence, 逆に turns a question back on the other person or offers the opposite view.
、きごう？
What do you think, then?
、きごう？
Let me turn that around – why did you think that?
In young people's slang 逆に also turns up as a filler with nothing reversed. Keep it out of anything formal.
Lingaku