“Although”, “though” , “even though”, “in Spite Of” y “despite” se utilizan para mostrar el contraste y tienen el mismo significado (que en español significa “aunque” o “a pesar de” . La única diferencia es la forma en que se utilizan; la estructura en la que se emplean.
Podéis ver el siguiente cuadro para ver cuales son sus estructuras correspondientes:
|
Although / though / Even though |
In Spite Of |
Despite |
|
although / even though + sujeto + verbo |
in spite of + nombre/pronombre o in spite of + verbo terminado en –ing |
Despite + nombre/pronombre o despite + verbo terminado en -ing |
|
Although my bike is very old, it still runs very well.
Although it was rainy, we went to the beach.
Though I wasn’t keen on the film, I thought the music was beautiful.
We enjoyed the trip to the city even though we were late. |
They started in spite of the heavy snow.
Maria kept on working in spite of her illness.
We go to the beach in spite of bad the weather. |
Despite the snow, we enjoyed our holiday.
She refused to quit despite many problems.
Despite studying hard, she failed the exam. |
Pero hay unas pequeñas diferencias:
“Even though” es un grado más fuerte y tiene una mayor enfásis que “although”.
“In spite of” and “despite” normalmente se pueden intercambiar.
“though” se utiliza más en un inglés hablado, normalmente al término de una segunda frase.
Ejemplo: We waited ages for our food. The waiter was really nice, though.
Es muy común utilizar la expresión “the fact that” con “in spite” y “despite”.
Un ejemplo de cómo se usarían (casi) todos:
Although we don’t agree, I think she’s a brilliant speaker.
Even though we don’t agree, I think she’s a brilliant speaker.
In spite of the law, people continue to use mobile phones while driving.
Despite the law, people continue to use mobile phones while driving.
Fuente: British Council