- Now that we have studied "even if" in Grammar 9-3, it is important to understand its difference with "although" and "even though".
- As studied in the Intermediate level, "although" and "even though" have the same meaning.
- Although and even though can be used to start a Complex Sentence.
- Although he has a car, he never uses it.
- Even though he has a car, he never uses it.
In the above examples, you can see that "although" and "even though" are only ever used with Complex Sentences.
This means you always need a subject and a verb (independent clause) after "although" or "even though."
If you want to say a noun or noun form instead of a clause, we use "despite" or "in spite of." Like "although" and "even though," we have two expressions that have exactly the same meaning. They can both be used at the beginning or in the middle of sentences:
- Despite the cold weather, he didn't wear a jacket.
- In spite of the cold weather, he didn't wear a jacket.
- She never checks her email despite having a computer.
- She never checks her email in spite of having a computer.
In the above example, "having a computer"is a noun phrase.
As we have studied with prepositions, we can change a verb to a noun by making it a gerund. So, the following four sentences have the same meaning:
- Despite having a computer, she never checks her email.
- In spite of having a computer, she never checks her email.
- Although she has a computer, she never checks her email.
- Even though she has a computer, she never checks her email.
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