Learn English Vocabulary: though, although, even though, despite, in spite of

Hi. Welcome again to www.engvid.com. My name is Adam. Today,

we're going to look at something that I get asked about all the time. Sorry

about that; I lost my cap, there. Okay, so people/students ask me all the time:

"What's the difference between: 'though', 'although', and 'even though';

and 'despite', and 'in spite of'?" Very simple. It's not as complicated as

everybody thinks. First, let's start with these three. These three: "though",

"although", and "even though" — these are used with adverb clauses. Now, just

to refresh your memory: What is a "clause"? A "clause" is any group of

words that has a subject and a verb. It must have a subject and a verb. And

these three are used to show contrast. So, what does all this mean, in general?

You're going to have a long sentence; this sentence is going to have two

clauses. One clause will have this adverb marker in it. The other clause

will be an independent clause — means that it's a sentence that can stand by

itself. What this does is it shows a contrast or something that's very

different from one clause to the other clause. So, within that one sentence,

you have contrasting ideas, like positive and negative; or you think this

is going to happen, but really, that happens — something very different from

what you expect. Okay. "Despite" and "in spite of" — these are prepositions, and

they are used with a phrase. Now, what is a "phrase"? A "phrase" is also a

group of words, but it doesn't need to have a subject and a verb. It can have a

noun, or it can have a verb, or it could have neither; but usually it has at

least one, or a gerund, but we'll get to that. But it also shows contrast. Okay.

Before I give you some example sentences to understand all this, let's look at

each one separately. "Though" and "although" — what is the difference? No

difference. "Though" is just a little bit more informal. Okay? You can use

either one at the beginning of a sentence or middle of a sentence. The

biggest difference is that you can end a sentence with "though"; you can't really

end a sentence with "although". And, again, when you end a sentence with

"though", it's a very informal sentence. Okay? So, you have to keep that in mind.

So, informal. Now, that doesn't mean that this is formal; it just means that

this is informal, if that makes any sense. How about "even though"? "Even

though" also shows a contrast, but it's a much stronger contrast. It adds

emphasis. But what is the emphasis on? Okay? This is what is important. What is

the emphasis placed on? The expectation. So, for example, the beginning of a

sentence has one idea, so you think this must be the second part; but no,

something very different is the second part. And this is a very strong emphasis

on this expectation. Okay? When I give you some example sentences, you'll

understand what I'm talking about. "Despite" and "in spite of" — these are

exactly the same, except one word; three words for this one. Right? But they work

the exact same way; you can interchange them. One mistake that many people do —

they say: "In despite of", or this: "Despite of something". They mix them.

Be very careful. "Despite" your phrase; "In spite of" your phrase. Don't mix the

two up. They're two different things with the same meaning. Okay? This will

be much clearer once I put up some examples, so let's do that.

Okay. Let's start with: "although", "though", and "even though". I have

basically the same sentence four different ways. Okay? "Although the exam

was difficult, I think I did well." Now, here, the contrast is between

"difficult" and "doing well". Right? That's the contrast. "Difficult" means

doing badly, but here's an opposite. Okay. Very easy. I start with

"although"; I give you the opposite. Here's your subject, and here's your

verb; and here's your subject, and here's your verb again. We won't talk

about the extra clause at the end, there. That's your main one. Now, same

sentence, I can switch it around. I can say: "I think I did well although the

exam was difficult. Beginning/end — doesn't matter. The only difference

would be the comma. If you beg-... if you put this as the second clause, no

comma. If you begin the sentence with the adverb marker, you have a comma. "I

think I did well though the exam was difficult." Okay? Yeah, so that's... My

mistake there; sorry about that. Here, we have it in the second part. I could

put "although" here; I could put "though" here — both would be okay;

doesn't change the meaning of the sentence. One is just informal; one is

just regular — no problem. Here, what I did is I wanted to show you how to put

it at the end, so I split up the sentence into two. "The exam was

difficult." Period. Sentence is finished. "I think I did well, though."

Now, here, I put a comma when I put "though" at the end. Now, again, this is

informal; this is how people speak. Sometimes you can have it in writing,

but not in formal writing. But you see how I can put this at the end? I can't

put "although" here; that doesn't work. You have to use the "though" at the end

of the sentence in informal situations. Now, here, I changed the sentence a

little bit: "Even though the exam was easy, I failed." Now, what's the

difference, here? "The exam was difficult. I think I did well", so there

is a contrast, but it's not very strong contrast. Right? Here: "The exam was

easy." So if I hear: "The exam was easy", I expect that you did very well.

Right? That's the whole idea. "But I failed" — that's drastic. "Drastic"

means that, like, it's a completely different result than what I expected.

That's why I'm using the "even though". "Even though it was easy, I failed."

This should not happen after this. Right? So, the difference is so strong

from the expectation that you want to use "even though" to emphasize that...

excuse me. That difference. Okay? I hope everybody understands that, more or

less, they're the exact same. In most situations, you can use any one of the

three; it won't make that much of a difference. This one has a certain

feeling to it of a strong difference. So, when you're writing an essay, for

example, sometimes it will make a difference — "even though" or "although"

— but usually not. Okay? Let's look at "despite" and "in spite of".

Okay. Now, let's look at "despite" and "in spite of". So, first of all:

"Despite his best efforts, the man just couldn't succeed." Sorry, I forgot to

put a lot of period there at the end. Okay. Now, first of all, what does it

mean? It means he tried his best; he tried, and tried, and tried, but always

failed; could never succeed. Now, what do you notice about this sentence? Here,

there's no verb. Right? It's only a phrase. This is what we call a "phrase".

Here, you have your regular independent clause with your subject and your verb —

no problem. "In spite of his best efforts, the man just couldn't succeed."

Exactly the same meaning. Okay? Just one expression versus the other. Again, I

can change it around. "The man just couldn't succeed despite his best

efforts. The man just couldn't succeed in spite of his best efforts." Same

meaning. Another way we can use "despite" and "in spite of" is with a

gerund; an "ing" verb. This is called a "gerund". It's an "ing" verb, but we use

it like a noun. So, here, the phrase is: "Being on time" — "to the lecture" not

so important. So, "Despite being on time" — means although he was on time...

See? I can mix them up; it's exact same meaning — "we were not admitted; we were

not allowed inside". So, keep in mind: "Despite" and "in spite of" mean the

same as "although", but "despite" and "in spite of" we use with a phrase;

"although" we use with a clause. Otherwise, same meaning. Okay? If you're

not sure, and you still have some questions, please go to www.engvid.com.

There's a quiz there; you can try all these things out and ask your questions.

And, yeah. I'll see you next time. Thanks.