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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.
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About this lesson
Master the differences between though, although, even though, despite, and in spite of in English.