How to use despite and in spite of correctly.
| Prepositions - despite, in spite of | ||
| We use despite in one half of a sentence to express a contrast with the other half of the sentence. |
despite something (noun) despite + verb + -ing despite the fact that |
Despite the heavy traffic, we got there on time. Despite being much older than the others, he won the race. |
| In spite of has the same meaning as despite. |
in spite of something (noun) in spite of + verb + -ing in spite of the fact that |
In spite of / despite the heavy traffic, we got there on time. In spite of / despite the traffic being heavy, we got there on time. In spite of / despite the fact that he is much older than the others, he won the race. In spite of / despite being much older than the others, he won the race. |
| We prefer despite to in spite of in written English. | ||
See also: Although, even though
