'Although' 'Even Though' 'In Spite Of' 'Despite' Difference and Exercises
1️⃣ Explanation 2️⃣ Exercises
What’s the difference?
1️⃣’Although’, ‘despite’, ‘in spite of’, and ‘even though’ mean the same thing and they are used to contrast ideas. Even though is a little bit stronger than the others. The main difference is that ‘although’ and ‘even though’ have different constructions than ‘despite’ and ‘in spite of’.
'Although' and 'Even though' construction
▪️ Although she has an annoying laugh, I still think she is a nice person.
▪️ Even though she has an annoying laugh, I still think she is a nice person.
'Despite' and 'In spite of' Construction
▪️ Despite her annoying laugh, I still think she is a nice person.
▪️ In spite of her annoying laugh, I still think she is a nice person.
Informal Sentence Examples
- Although I was only 5 years old, I can still remember my holiday in Spain.
- Despite feeling tired, I was able to work hard
- Despite being a busy week, I was able to enjoy my weekend
- Although we want to have kids, we are going to wait until we have more money.
- Despite hating table tennis, I love tennis.
- Despite not cooking Italian food, my mother is a good cook.
- Despite being difficult to get promoted, I like my job.
- Even though it rains all the time, I like the country and culture
- Despite being a terrible cook, I can cook a great curry
Formal Sentence Examples
- Although tourism has many benefits, it can also have negative side effects on a city.
- Despite the high cost of designer brands, many individuals are influenced by advertising and peer pressure.
- Although the music industry is more accessible, many people believe the quality of music suffers.
- Despite the advantages of private schools, I believe the cost for many people is unattainable.
- Although many people prefer to live in urban areas, others prefer to live in the countryside.
🔎 So far, we have practiced these sentences with the linking words at the beginning of the sentence, but we can reverse the clauses.
- Even though the weather is really bad, we can still have a good time.
- We can still have a good time even though the weather is really bad.
⚠️ It is important to note that when the sentence starts with the linking word, the subordinate clause has to have a comma, but we do not need a comma if the dependent clause comes first.
