Although, though, despite and in spite of (a)

By Berni | January 25, 2017

After although / though we use a subject and a verb:

  • Although the weather was good, we didn’t particularly enjoy our holiday.
  • We didn’t particularly enjoy our holiday, though / although the weather was good.

Although (or though) here means something like ‘but‘ –
We didn’t particularly enjoy our holiday, but the weather was good. (i.e. we cannot blame our lack of enjoyment of our holiday on poor weather, or something that was positive about the holiday was the good weather.)

After in spite of / despite / we use a noun, pronoun (this, that, what etc) or -ing:

  • We didn’t enjoy our holiday much, despite the good weather.
  • We didn’t enjoy our holiday, in spite of the beautiful scenery.
  • We had a wonderful time, despite staying in a dreadful hotel.

Note that we say in spite of but just despite:

  • Despite having lovely weather, we came home from holiday early.
  • We came home from holiday early, in spite of having sunny weather.

Both in spite of and despite are sometimes followed by ‘the fact (that)’

We didn’t particularly enjoy our holiday, in spite of the fact (that) the weather was good.
Despite the fact (that) the weather was good, we didn’t particularly enjoy our holiday.

Can you supply the correct word?

1. [Multiple choice]

……………….. ‘Banksy’ is a very wealthy artist, not everyone considers him a good one.

Answers for Quiz [1].

  • 1. In spite of
  • 2. Although (correct)
  • 3. Despite

2. [Multiple choice]

There was a wild party next door last night – ……………….. that, I still got up this morning having had a decent night’s sleep.

Answers for Quiz [2].

  • 1. although
  • 2. in spite
  • 3. despite (correct)

3. [Multiple choice]

It was clear to everyone that Mary had been crying before we met, ………………….. she had made an effort to disguise the fact.

Answers for Quiz [3].

  • 1. despite
  • 2. in spite of
  • 3. though (correct)

4. [Multiple choice]

……………….. her promotion, Brenda still felt dissatisfied and undervalued.

Answers for Quiz [4].

  • 1. Though
  • 2. Although
  • 3. In spite
  • 4. Despite (correct)

5. [Multiple choice]

Yvonne is well organised at work, ……………….. she is not a particularly popular boss.

Answers for Quiz [5].

  • 1. despite
  • 2. although (correct)
  • 3. in spite of

6. [Multiple choice]

Norah Lofts is by no means what you would call a household name, ……………. being a very fine writer.

(To be a household name = to be very well-known)

Answers for Quiz [6].

  • 1. in spite of (correct)
  • 2. though
  • 3. although

7. [Multiple choice]

She accepted the job, ……………… of her misgivings about the people who interviewed.

(Did you remember that in spite takes ‘of’ after it, but despite does not?
a misgiving = a feeling of doubt or worry about a future event. eg “I have serious misgivings about the success of this exhibition.”)

Answers for Quiz [7].

  • 1. despite
  • 2. although
  • 3. in spite (correct)

8. [Multiple choice]

Neither of them ate much dinner, ………………. declaring they were ravenous when they arrived.

Answers for Quiz [8].

  • 1. in spite
  • 2. although
  • 3. despite (correct)
  • 4. though

9. [Multiple choice]

They didn’t manage to get much sleep, ………………… there was no noise to stop them doing so.

Answers for Quiz [9].

  • 1. in spite of
  • 2. although (correct)
  • 3. despite

10. [Multiple choice]

John Simpson continued to send regular reports from Zimbabwe ……………….. the ban on journalists.

Answers for Quiz [10].

  • 1. although
  • 2. in spite
  • 3. despite (correct)
Posted in Grammar and Usage