Hello this is Greg from Online Language
Academy and in this lesson we're going to be looking at the difference between
despite in spite of even though and although. By the end of this video you
will be able to use them correctly avoid some of the very common mistakes that
students make when using these words and as always you will learn some
pronunciation tips along the way, so let's go! If you're new here and Greg I
teach British English pronunciation and advanced grammar on this channel so if
you want to speak advanced English then click subscribe and click the bell
notification so that you get notified when I publish new free lessons. Let's
have a look then at the difference between despite in spite of even though
and although in English grammar. OK, first let's look at DESPITE. And DESPITE
is the same as IN SPITE OF. The only difference really is that in spite of is
three words and despite is one, so what are you going
to use? Generally if we have the option of using three words or one we usually
use one especially in spoken English! If you're writing an essay then I recommend
using a combination of both but when we're speaking naturally, personally, I
always use despite. Now the important thing and the reason a lot of people
make mistakes when they use this word is because of what follows the word despite. And you have two options. You can follow despite with a noun or
gerund. Let's have a look at some examples. First with a noun. He has to go
to work despite... and then we need a noun. In this case the noun is "his broken leg"...
OK, his broken leg, this is a big fat noun, alright? Yes, it has the possessive
and an adjective but it's a proper noun. So he has to go to work
despite his broken leg. Also we can say he has to go to work in spite of his
broken leg. Let's have a look at another example.
They still sell clothes online despite the closure of their shop.
Despite the closure – closure is the noun of the verb to close – despite the closure
of their shop. And again we could say or we could write: They still sell clothes
online in spite of the closure of their shop. OK, the second way we can use
despite is despite plus a gerund – that is the -ing form of a verb (watching, playing,
sleeping) so, using similar examples from the previous point let's use despite
plus a gerund: He still has to go to work despite breaking his leg. Despite
breaking, despite gerund, OK? Despite breaking his leg. Again, we can say he
still has to go to work in spite of breaking his leg. Using the
second example: They still sell clothes online despite closing down their shop –
closing down means closing forever – so they still sell clothes online despite
closing down their shop. Or they still sell clothes online in spite of closing
down their shop. Many students have more difficulties with the third way we can
use despite but it's relatively simple.. We use despite plus and noun
and then the gerund. Despite – Noun – Gerund. Hmm, let's have a look at these examples:
He still has to go to work despite (and then the noun) his leg (and
then the gerund) being broken. He still has to go to work
despite his leg being broken. And of course we can say he still has to go to
work in spite of his leg being broken. This combination of words sometimes
sounds strange for students but it's perfectly good it's perfectly correct
and it's a really nice advanced structure to use in English. In the
second example: they still sell clothes online despite their shop being closed down. Or they still sell clothes online in spite
of their shop being closed down. Alright, there's one more way to use despite.
Before I tell you just download my book English Quick Fix. It gives you 16 steps
to speak advanced English, it fixes many many typical mistakes in English grammar and pronunciation so if you want to speak advanced English, click the link in
the description to get that book FREE! Right the fourth way we can use despite
is with this little expression: despite the fact that. Despite the fact that. And
many students find in this little expression the easiest to use because
after this expression we use a subject and a verb (like he goes, I eat, it's
raining). So many people find this the easiest way to use the word
despite. Let's have a look at these two examples again: He has to go to work
despite the fact that his leg is broken. So we basically use a normal sentence
"his leg is broken" Despite the fact that his leg is broken. He has to go to work despite the fact that his
leg is broken. Easy!! And their shop closed down... Despite
the fact that their shop closed down... He still has to go to work despite the fact
that his shop closed down. Again we can use in spite of for all of these. He
still has to go to work in spite of the fact that he broke his leg. In spite of
can easily replace despite, but again, we're gonna use a lot of words if we do
this. So when we're speaking we usually just use the word despite. Now one big
mistake that people usually make is using the word despite and then the
preposition of. This is wrong, it's just a combination of despite and in spite of,
but we can't say despite of. I'm going to the beach despite of the rain?? No! Despite the rain or in spite of the rain, but never despite of. So stop saying despite
of! Right we have two more expressions that we are looking at in this video and
they are although and even though, and they work in a very similar way to
despite or in spite of. The meaning is very, very similar, for example he had to
go to work even though he broke his leg – this means exactly the same as despite
the fact that he broke his leg, or despite breaking his leg, or
despite his leg being broken. They all mean the same and to be honest when we're speaking we probably use the expression even though more than we use the
expression despite, and definitely in spite of. Now, even though and although
work very very similarly to despite the fact that. We follow these expressions
with the subject and the verb, so: His is broken. Even though his leg is broken.
He has to go to work even though his leg is broken. Their shop closed down. Even
though their shop closed down. They sell clothes online even though their shop
closed down. Although: this works the same way, we need to put a subject and verb
after although, so: Although he broke his leg he still has to go to work. Or, he
still has to go to work although he broke his leg. Very important: with the
words although and even though, listen to the pronunciation: although, even though.
The GH is completely silent, so don't even think about it when you are
pronouncing these two words! OK, please like and share this video if you have
enjoyed it and subscribe to the channel to get more lessons from me. Remember to get my book and I'll see you in the next lesson! Bye for now!
