despite, in spite of although, though, even though
Hi, my name is Sarah and in today's lesson we are going to learn about the linking words:
Despite, in spite of, although, though and even though.
So, what do they all have in common?
Well, they are used to contrast 2 ideas.
So they're very useful for your essays.
So first up despite and in spite of .
1. They mean the same and can be interchanged.
The only difference is the "of" with in spite.
So don't forget that.
2. Despite is slightly more formal.
3. They are more common in written English.
They are used to explain an unexpected event.
Something you don't think will happen.
So, if you cut open a banana you don't expect to see a kiwi.
So how do we use despite and in spite of
Firstly, after despite and in spite of we can use:
A noun or pronoun.
For example:
We enjoyed our camping holiday in spite of the rain.
Despite this, we enjoyed our camping holiday.
Here in spite of is followed by a noun - the rain
and despite is followed by a pronoun-this.
They are used in sentences where 2 ideas are contrasted
in 2 clauses,
and they are describing an unexpected event .
You would maybe expect NOT to enjoy your holiday because it rained.
So you use despite and in spite of
Notice the comma when despite or in spite of are used at the beginning of the sentence.
Secondly , If the clause with despite and in spite of has a verb
then the gerund form of the verb is used,
that is the verb + ing.
For example:
He was very fast in spite of being terribly overweight.
Notice the gerund "being" is used and also this is an unexpected event
as he is very overweight
you wouldn't expect him to be very fast.
With despite and in spite of you can also say:
Despite the fact that he was terribly overweight, he was very fast-
or In spite of the fact that he was terribly overweight, he was very fast.
This is the only time that you can use despite or in spite of with a subject and a verb.
Now let's look at although, though and even though.
They are very similar to despite and in spite of as they contrast 2 ideas.
Firstly although and though.
They mean the same, so they're interchangeable.
and are slightly stronger than but.
Though is more common in spoken English,
so more informal.
So how do we use although and though?
After although and though we have a subject and a verb.
So for example:
"We enjoyed our camping holiday although it rained every day."
or "We enjoyed our camping holiday though it rained every day."
It rained is the subject and verb.
Also, clauses can be switched.
So you could equally say,
"Although it rained every day,
we enjoyed our camping holiday."
or "Though it rained every day,
we enjoyed our camping holiday."
Notice the comma if we start with the sentence with although or though.
There is one difference between though and although
and that is that though can be used at the end of a sentence.
For example:
"It rained every day. Full stop.
We enjoyed our camping holiday, though"
Here you couldn't use although.
This is very common in spoken English.
Finally even though.
Even though is like though and although but emphasises the contrast.
So, let's compare 2 sentences.
"We decided to buy the house even though we didn’t really have enough money."
"We decided to buy the house although we didn't have enough money."
These 2 sentences mean the same but the first one is emphasising the fact that we really
shouldn't have bought the house.
So, now it's your turn.
Fill in the gaps.
--------- it rained a lot, we enjoyed our holiday.
Although, though or even though could be used.
The first clause has a subject and verb.
…..................... all our careful plans, a lot of things went wrong.
So here you could use despite or in spite of
because you have, the first clause has no verb and no subject
so you can't use although or though
and also you'd planned carefully
so you'd expect things to go well.
So, it's an unexpected event.
I couldn't get to sleep ---------- being very tired.
Here, you could use despite or in spite of
because it is followed by the gerund "being."
Also you would expect
to get to sleep f you were very tired so it is an unexpected event.
Congratulations you now know how to use despite/ in spite of / although/ though and even though
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despite, in spite of although, though, even though