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■Despite the bad weather, we went to the beach. 資料圖片
「雖然我很醜，但我有一顆善良的心??」（Although I have an unattractive appearance, I'm kind hearted.）喜歡一切美好的事物，似乎是人類的天性。例如，逛街看見一件精緻的擺設，不禁也會駐足多看兩眼。可是，人與人之間的相處，應該被外表的美或醜所影響嗎？
在中文運用中，我們使用「雖然??但是??」來express contrast （描述對比）。而在英文文法裡，除了最常見的「although / though」（雖然）和「but」（但是），我們其實還可以多用「Despite / In spite of」（儘管）來增加文章或溝通的variety（多樣化）。
Despite/In spite of︰Despite / In spite of 意指儘管，意思與although/though十分接近。「Despite the bad weather, we went to the beach.」（儘管天氣惡劣，我們仍有到海灘。）同一個意思，如轉了although則是「Although the weather was bad, we went to the beach.」。 另一個例子，「In spite of his illness, he came to the birthday party.」（儘管生病，他仍有出席生日派對。）如轉用though則是「He came to the birthday party though he was sick.」
Usage 1︰Although / Though後的是一個clause（句子／從句），而despite / in spite of 後的是noun / noun phrase（名詞／名詞片語），這是兩者的最大分別，同時也是很多學生容易混淆的地方。 在 「Although I have an unattractive appearance」中，「 I have an unattractive appearance」是clause，若轉用despite/in spite of，便要把clause轉做noun/noun phrase，「In spite of my unattractive appearance」。
Usage 2︰Despite / In spite of 後除了用noun/noun phrase，也可直接跟 verb+ing。例如，「Despite gaining weight, she keeps eating junk food.」（儘管體重增加，她仍繼續吃垃圾食物）；「In spite of taking a nap, I still feel tired.」（儘管小睡了片刻，我仍感到疲累。）■程韻
作者簡介：英國文學碩士，在男校任教英語的女教師，愛好文學和動物。
以下是不同的描述對比例子，可作參考：
1. Although I have a lot of money, I'm never happy.
2. Despite being rich, I never feel happy.
3. I advised Jimmy not to gamble, but he didn't listen.
4. In spite of my advice, he didn't listen.
Exercises
Fill in the blanks with the best answers.
1. I have a lot of friends _________ I'm broke.
2. ______________ it's raining, I went for a walk.
3. ______________ the rain, I went for a walk.
4. _______________ my efforts, I couldn't win the match.
5. _______________ I put efforts, I couldn't win the match.
Answers:
1. although / though
2. Although / Though
3. Despite / In spite of
4. Despite / In spite of
5. Although / Though
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