complex sentence frame · neutral

Despite / In spite of + noun / V-ing + , + clause

Band 4-5speakingtask2

Expresses contrast ('in spite of / despite'); followed by a noun or -ing form, not a full clause.

Examples

“Despite the bad weather, the festival went ahead as planned.”

“In spite of being tired, he continued working late into the night.”

“Despite losing several players, the team won the match.”

Band 8 sentence

“Despite the mounting evidence of progress, policymakers remained cautious, awaiting more robust data before announcing major reforms.”

Collocations

  • despite + noun / despite + V-ing

Word family

despite prepositionin spite of prepositional phrase

Common mistakes

Despite he was tired, he kept working.→Despite being tired, he kept working.

She went out despite of the rain.→She went out despite the rain.

Say it for a higher band

5Although + clause→6Despite + V-ing→7+Despite / In spite of + noun / V-ing + , + clause

Synonyms

although

Easily confused

Although + clause

“Although he was tired, he stayed up to finish the report.”

Related words

By the time + clause, clauseWhether + clause (or not)So + adjective + that + clauseEven if + clause, clauseSuch + (a/an) + noun + that + clauseIf + past perfect, would have + past participleOn the one hand + clause; on the other hand + clauseGiven that + clause, + clause

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In Complex sentences

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