Learners of English often find the words in spite of and despite confusing. Therefore, when forming English sentences, they are afraid to use them with confidence and ease. We can use these two words to talk about contrast - when we want to express something that is surprising or unexpected.
If you learn to use the two words correctly, your sentences will sound more sophisticated and your knowledge of the English language will improve.
In spite of
In spite of is a preposition. After it, you can always use one of the following three things:
- a noun
- a pronoun
- an -ing form of a verb (gerund)
For example:
- Yesterday I went out in spite of the rain.
(in spite of + the noun rain)
- She was feeling sick, but in spite of this she went to work.
(in spite of + the demonstrative pronoun this)
- In spite of having a headache, I enjoyed the trip to Venice.
(in spite of + the –ing form of the verb have)
Let me explain the last sentence in more detail. If you are an intermediate or more advanced student of English, then you probably already know the following rule:
If a verb follows a preposition, then the verb ALWAYS ends in –ing! The -ing form of the verb is then called a gerund.
For example:
- Are you interested in (preposition) working (gerund) for me?
According to the Cambridge Dictionary of English, a gerund is a word that ends in '-ing' which is made from a verb, and which is used as a noun. You can learn more about gerunds here.
If you want to learn about the different types of pronouns in the English language, you can do it here.
Despite
Despite is also a preposition. It is used in the same way as in spite of. Therefore, you can use it after (a) a noun, (b) pronoun, or (c) gerund.
For example:
- Yesterday I went out despite the rain.
(despite + the noun rain)
- She was feeling sick, but despite this she went to work.
(despite + the demonstrative pronoun this)
- Despite having a headache, I enjoyed the trip to Venice.
(despite + the –ing form of the verb have)
As you can see, in spite of and despite are interchangeable. Avoid using despite with the preposition of (a very common mistake):
- She was feeling sick, but despite of this she went to work. wrong
Also note that despite is slightly more formal than in spite of.
In spite of and Despite in That-Clauses
So far you have learned that the prepositions in spite of and despite can be followed by a noun, pronoun, or gerund. Can they also be directly followed by a that-clause? No. Instead, you should always use one of the following two constructions:
- in spite of the fact (that)
- despite the fact (that)
For example:
- Mrs. Pink didn't get the writing job in spite of the fact (that) she had all the necessary qualifications.
- Mr. Pink didn't get the writing job despite the fact (that) he had all the necessary qualifications.
That is optional; you can leave it out. For example:
- Mr Pink didn't get the writing job despite the fact he had all the necessary qualifications.
Of course you could also avoid using the above constructions and say the following instead:
- Mr. Pink didn't get the writing job in spite of having (gerund) all the necessary qualifications.
- Mrs. Pink didn't get the writing job despite having (gerund) all the necessary qualifications.
A note: You can also use the conjunction although to introduce contrast. In spite of or despite + noun/gerund means more or less the same as although + subject + verb.
For example:
- Mr. Pink didn't get the writing job although he (subject) had (verb) all the necessary qualifications.
- Mr. Pink didn't get the job in spite of/despite having all the necessary qualifications.
- Although it was raining, I went out for a walk.
- I went out for a walk in spite of/despite the rain.
If you would like to test your newly acquired knowledge, then you can pick up Raymond Murphy's English Grammar in Use (a self-study reference and practice book for intermediate students).
Tanja Batista - Tanja Batista has a BA in English Language and Literature from the Faculty of Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
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