[Vocabulary] “on one hand” or “on the one hand”

[Helen Huang]

Dear teachers：
Today, when I do my homework, I found a question about two phrases, “on one hand” and “on the one hand.” I don’t know how to distinguish between these two phrases.
Firstly, I look up both of them in the dictionary. They have the same meaning of “from one point of view.” However, when they were used in different language environment, maybe they have different meanings and usages.
In my opinion, usually, “on one hand” collocates with “on the other” or is used alone. For example, “But conservationists on one hand and advocates of development on the other disagree over its extent and whether it has been positive or negative.” “On one hand, the basic communication tools now available make distance almost a non-issue. But then, “on the one hand” is often used with “on the other hand”. For example, “On the one hand, I can be native, but on the other hand, I’ve lived.”
Is my opinion right or not? May I ask you to solve this problem? Thanks a lot!

 

[Matthew Wai]

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/on+one+hand
'The' is in brackets, so it may simply be optional.

The same question has just been asked by another Chinese student on https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/...ot-on-the-one-hand-quot?p=1106524#post1106524
Is s/he your schoolmate?

Not a teacher.

 

[Rover_KE]

And by another one here.