Look at these examples to see how although, even though, in spite of and despite are used.
Although we don't agree, I think she's a brilliant speaker.
Even though we don't agree, I think she's a brilliant speaker.
In spite of the law, people continue to use mobile phones while driving.
Despite the law, people continue to use mobile phones while driving.
It's illegal to use mobile phones while driving. People still do it, though.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
Although, even though, in spite of and despite are all used to link two contrasting ideas or show that one fact makes the other fact surprising. They can all be used at the beginning or in the middle of the sentence.
Despite the rain, we enjoyed the festival.
We enjoyed the festival, despite the rain.
The main difference between although, even though, in spite of and despite is that they are used with different structures.
in spite of / despite
After in spite of and despite, we use a noun, gerund (-ing form of a verb) or a pronoun.
They never made much money, in spite of their success.
In spite of the pain in his leg, he completed the marathon.
Despite having a headache, I had a great birthday.
The train was cancelled. In spite of that, we arrived on time.
Note that it is common to use in spite of and despite with the expression the fact that, followed by a subject and verb.
In spite of the fact that he worked very hard, he didn't pass the exam.
Despite the fact that he worked very hard, he didn't pass the exam.
although / even though
After although and even though, we use a subject and a verb. Even though is slightly stronger and more emphatic than although.
I enjoyed the course, although I would have liked more grammar practice.
Although we saw each other every day, we didn't really know each other.
Even though she spoke very quietly, he understood every word.
She didn't get the job, even though she had all the necessary qualifications.
though
Though can be used in the same way as although.
Though I wasn't keen on the film, I thought the music was beautiful.
Though can also go at the end of the second phrase. This way of expressing contrasting ideas is most common in spoken English.
We waited ages for our food. The waiter was really nice, though.
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
Hello,
A: What would your dream home look like?
B: I don't really care, but I want to have an outdoor grill.
A: So, you want to have a grill regardless of your accommodation being a flat, a house, or a hut in the woods.
B: Not a hut, I guess, but regardless of it being a house or a flat.
Can 'regardless accommodation/it being' be used in these sentences?
Thank you
Hello Tony,
Yes. Regardless of is followed by an object (since 'of' is a preposition one must follow) and this can be an -ing form. If we want to indicate who the -ing form describes then we can use an object pronoun or (in a rather old-fashioned form) a possessive adjective:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Team,
I won the race ---------coming last in the practice run
I'm not clear with in spite of what about even though please explain for me
Hello Kasgentle,
'in spite of' is correct here; you could also say 'despite'. 'even though' has the right meaning, but it's not correct to use a verb in the '-ing' form after 'even though'. Instead, we use a subject + verb. 'I won the race even though I came last in the practice run' would be correct because it has 'I came' instead of 'coming'.
Does that make sense?
All the best,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Hello team,
How do I understand 'having' in the sentence"Despite having a headache, I had a great birthday.", a gerund or a present participle
Hello cchenji,
The word 'despite' is a preposition and prepositions are followed by objects (nouns or noun phrases). The -ing form here is therefore a gerund, not a participle.
The distinction between gerund and participle is one which comes originally from the study of Latin and it is one which modern grammars tend to avoid as being not really relevant to modern English. These grammars use the term -ing form for all uses. The relevant wikipedia page references this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerund
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
In the sentence "Despite having a headache, I had a great birthday," the word "having" is functioning as a gerund.
Here’s why:
To further clarify, let’s break down the sentence:
So, in this case, "having" is a gerund because it is part of the noun phrase "having a headache" that follows the preposition "despite."
Hi, I don't realy get this one: My partner snores really loudly but ___in spite of __ that I sleep well.
I can't understand why we put "in spite of" right after "but"?
Hi Stellayennipham,
In spite of can be used to begin a sentence:
If we want to use it in the middle of a sentence we need to add but:
There are quite a lot of words and phrases that function like this. Some use 'and' (e.g. in addition, as well as that), some use 'but' (e.g. nevertheless, in contrast) and some use 'or' (e.g. alternatively, otherwise).
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you a lot for the help and time. Bless you.