Today, we are going to look at two phrases that people often struggle to use correctly: despite and in spite of. Read on if you want to find out how to use them.

Despite and In Spite Of: What do they mean?

First of all, let’s look at the similarities. Look at these two complex sentences:

• Despite the difficulties they faced, the team worked together to win the competition.
• In spite of the difficulties they faced, the team worked together to win the competition.

Is there any difference in meaning between them?

No! They actually mean the same thing.

“Despite” and “in spite of” are both subordinating conjunctions that tell us about the relationship between the ideas in the two clauses of the sentence. It means that what happened in the main clause happened without being affected by whatever is mentioned in the subordinate clause.

Here is another example:

• Despite the rain, they went for a walk.
• In spite of the rain, they went for a walk.

These people went for a walk but that is surprising because of the rain. However, the rain did not stop them from walking, so we can use “despite” or “in spite of.”

Despite vs In Spite Of: How do we use them?

We have seen that these two phrases have the same basic meaning and can be used interchangeably. However, let’s look at them in more detail.

Look at these sentences:

• Despite the heat, she did not turn on the air conditioning.
• In spite of the heat, she did not turn on the air conditioning.

Here, we can see that both terms can be used before a noun. This is actually very common.

Similarly, they can be used in front of a gerund (which is a verb turned into a noun and is used in the “-ing” form).

• Despite trying his best, he still could not finish on time.
• In spite of trying his best, he still could not finish on time.

If we want to use an independent clause, we need to remember that “despite” and “in spite of” are both subordinating conjunctions, so there needs to be a modification made. Let’s take this clause as an example:

• it was dark outside

We cannot say “despite it was dark outside” or “in spite of it was dark outside.” These would be completely incorrect.

Therefore, we need to modify both phrases with “the fact that”:

• Despite the fact that it was dark outside, the children still wanted to go out and play.
• In spite of the fact that it was dark outside, the children still wanted to go out and play.

You can see we have simply put a noun after “despite” and “in spite of,” then modified that noun with a relative clause.

Despite Of: Is it really a phrase?

People often write “despite of” when they are learning English, but this is completely incorrect. It is simply a case of someone mixing together “despite” and “in spite of,” creating a new phrase. However, we cannot do this.

For example, this is completely incorrect:

• Despite of the obvious benefits of instant messaging, there are some drawbacks as well.

Instead, we should say:

• Despite the obvious benefits of instant messaging, there are some drawbacks as well.
• In spite of the obvious benefits of instant messaging, there are some drawbacks as well.

As you can see, we can simply replace “despite of” with one of the two phrases that it mixed together.

Common Mistakes with “Despite” and “In Spite Of”

We have now seen two common mistakes that people make when trying to use “despite” and “in spite of,” but there are more.

These words tend to be confused with other subordinating conjunctions. For example, we can see that “although” has a loosely similar meaning:

• Although governments should invest in sports facilities for professional athletes, they should not overlook the average person.

People might be tempted to use “despite” here instead of “although.” However, it would require a change:

• Despite the fact that governments should invest in sports facilities for professional athletes, they should not overlook the average person.

Again, we can see how we need to present a noun, then modify it with a relative clause. Essentially, what was the whole of the first clause is now a relative clause.

The same is true with “even though”:

• Even though it was a very difficult test, she managed to get a great score.

To use “despite,” we must change the form a little:

• Despite the fact that it was a very difficult test, she managed to get a great score.