Welcome to your “Even” lesson! In this topic we talk about:
• When do we use “Although” / “Though” / “Even though” / “In spite of” / “Despite”?
• “Although”
• “In spite of” / “Despite”
• “Although” / “In spite of” / “Despite”
• “Though” and “Although”
Take the quizzes when you’re ready! If you’re having problems, use the comment box to contact our English Teachers.
When do we use “Although” / “Though” / “Even though” / “In spite of” / “Despite”?
Have a look at these examples:
Last month James and Samantha had a holiday in the mountains. It was really cold but they enjoyed themselves:
“Although it was cold, they enjoyed themselves.”
“In spite of the weather, they enjoyed themselves.”
“Despite the weather, they enjoyed themselves.”
“Although”
After “although” we use subject + verb:
“Although it was cold, we enjoyed ourselves.”
“They didn’t let me in the cinema although I had a ticket.”
Compare “although” and “because”:
“We went on holiday although it was cold.”
“We didn’t go on holiday because it was cold.”
“In spite of” / “Despite”
After “in spite of” or “despite” we use a noun, a pronoun, or “+ing”:
“In spite of the cold, we enjoyed our weekend.”
“I wasn’t well, but in spite of this I went on holiday.”
“Despite being ill, we went to the restaurant.”
You can say “in spite of the fact” and “despite the fact.”:
“I didn’t get the job in spite of the fact that I was qualified.”
“I didn’t get the job despite the fact that I was qualified.”
Compare “in spite of” and “because of”:
“We went to the cinema in spite of the snow.”
“We didn’t go to the cinema because of the snow.”
“Although” / “In spite of” / “Despite”
Compare these three expressions:
“Although the rain was bad, we went to the restaurant.”
or
“In spite of the rain, we went to the restaurant.”“I couldn’t concentrate although I had just had a coffee.”
or
“I couldn’t concentrate despite just having a coffee.”
“Though” and “Although”
Sometimes we use “though” instead of “although”:
“I couldn’t concentrate though I had just had a coffee.”
In spoken English, we sometimes put “though” at the end of sentences:
“The rice was terrible, I liked the vegetables though.”
“I see my neighbours every day, I’ve never spoken to them though.”
“Even though” (not “even”) is a stronger version of “although”:
“Even though I had just had a coffee, I was tired.”
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