# Despite x Although



## Lynna

Bom dia!
*Despite x Although*
Gostaria de saber quando usar um e outro de forma adequada. Podem me dar alguns exemplos para esclarecer a diferenca de quando usar um ou outro?

Obrigada


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## almufadado

"Despite my willingness (i am willing) to answer your question, you could have give it a try ! "

"Apesar da minha disposição (eu estar disposto a) para responder à tua questão, podias ter feito uma tentativa"

"Despite all the wrongs in the world, i still believe in people!

Despite "the fact" , there is a "reason"/"follow up"/"continuity" 

"Although this can be a way to do it, i could be wrong"

"Still i will do it, although you oppose it/despite your opposition!"

Poetic:
"Although we have never met, you have touched the very heart of my soul." - "Mesmo que nunca nos tenhamos conhecido, tocaste o amago do meu ser."

"Despite all, i still love you." - "Eu ainda te amo, apesar de tudo" as in "against all odds"


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## Ricardoreis

almufadado said:


> "Despite i am willing/my willingness to answer your question, you could have give it a try ! "
> 
> "Apesar de eu estar disposto a/ a minha disposição para responder à tua questão, podias ter feito uma tentativa"
> 
> "Despite all wrongs in the world, i stil believe in people!
> 
> Despite the fact, there is a reason/follow up/continuity
> 
> "Although this can be a way to do it, i could be wrong"
> 
> "Still i will do it, although you oppose it/despite your opposition!"
> 
> Poetic:
> "Although we have never met, you have touched the very heart of my soul." - "Mesmo que nunca nos tenhamos conhecido, tocaste o amago do meu ser."
> 
> "Despite all, i still love you." - "Eu ainda te amo, apesar de tudo" as in "against all odds"



Careful, some of these sound very wrong in English. You have to be very careful with the syntax when using 'despite'.

_Despite my willingness to answer your question, I don't want to make it that easy for you!_

(you can't say "Despite I am willing")

*Note: Use 'Despite' + a noun / verb in the gerund
*
_- Despite my uncertainty about the security of my job, I went to work as normal.
(Despite being uncertain about the security of my job, I went to work as normal)
- Despite his grey hair, he's not that old.
(or Despite having grey hair, he's much younger than he looks.)
- Despite the rain, we're going outside to play football.
- Despite my hunger, I'm not going for lunch yet.
(Despite being hungry, I'm not going for lunch yet.)_


*or 'Despite the fact that' + a verb in the present tense*

_Despite the fact that he has grey hair, he's not that old.
Despite the fact that I am hungry, I'm not going for lunch yet.
Despite the fact that it's raining, we're going outside to play football
Despite the fact that I am uncertain about my job, I'm going to work as normal_

There's no difference between the different versions, but each one requires you to be careful about how to use the noun/verb.


"Despite all the wrongs in the world, I still believe in people!

"Despite the fact, there is a reason" (You have to say 'Despite the fact THAT + fact), e.g. Despite the fact that it seems pointless, there is a reason.

"Eu ainda te amo, apesar de tudo" = Despite everything, I still love you.


The use of 'although' is correct. Mostly the difference is stylistic, and as long as you get the syntax right, you can use either. My first examples could be rephrased using 'although' with no difference in tone. Normally you can't use 'although' plus verb in the gerund, apart from the expression "Although having said that,..."

_Although he has grey hair, he's not that old.
Although I am hungry, I'm not going for lunch yet.
Although it's raining, we're going outside to play football
Although I am uncertain about my job, I'm going to work as normal_

Final word: you can replace 'Although' with 'Even though' and use exactly the same structure.


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## almufadado

I see all the time, for example: "Despite I never had a ..." , but it can be a mistake too.

Despite my formal mistake in "Despite I am willing/my willingness" was an informal way to illustrate the Portuguese version, I will correct it.

That said, and although I am willing to correct my phase all together, I will place it in parenthesis so it fit the Portugueses form of "Apesar de". Do you agree ?



Ricardoreis said:


> "Eu ainda te amo, apesar de tudo" = Despite everything, I still love you.



Although you do not agree with that construction, and despite all grammatical constraints, i take very seriously my poetic freedom. My "all" was of omnibus sense, so it could stand for "everything", "everyone", "against all odds", "the world", "all there is" and so on...  

Despite your disagreement about that construction, and although i have to abide (  ) to all grammatical constraints, i take very seriously my poetic freedom. My "all" was of omnibus sense, so it could stand for "everything", "everyone", "against all odds", "the world", "all there is" and so on...


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## Outsider

_Despite_: apesar de.
_Although_: embora, ainda que, se bem que.


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## Lynna

Muito esclarecedor, muito obrigada a todos que postaram exemplos!!


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## almufadado

Lynna said:


> Muito esclarecedor, muito obrigada a todos que postaram exemplos!!



De nada. Não tem de que.

Agora dá tu um exemplo.


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## Ricardoreis

almufadado said:


> Despite your disagreement about that construction, and although i have to abide (  ) to all grammatical constraints, i take very seriously my poetic freedom. My "all" was of omnibus sense, so it could stand for "everything", "everyone", "against all odds", "the world", "all there is" and so on...



"Despite I never had" is wrong, indeed. The right expression would be "Despite never having had...", or "Despite the fact I never had"

Hey, I'm a poet at heart so I know exactly what you mean! You *could* use 'all' in this context poetically, but it would be going against the normal use, in my opinion. Poets have the ability to do that 

But my English teachers always used to tell me at school - you have to know the rules in order to break them. They used that line to justify teaching us grammar, when some people pointed at poets and some authors and said "But they don't care about rules!". Now, looking back on it, I think they had a point.


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## almufadado

Despite the roughness of the sea !
Although you disbelieve me !
I will sail my boat and see,
The fruits of the new tree.

Despite never having had the chance !
Although no one gave me the opportunity!
I will thrive and will find my destiny,
And in the end, we will drink and dance.


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## 4TranslatingEnglish

Ricardoreis said:


> (you can't say "Despite I am willing")



This is a lesson I had to learn the hard way. It originates from the fact that, in Portuguese, "apesar de", natural translation for "despite", can indeed be followed by a personal prenoun:
"apesar de ele / apesar de isto"
In English, one has to resort to "although".


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## jaraki

hi,

in a sentence:

____________data link communication has reached an advanced stage of development, verbal communication is likely to remain the prime means of air-ground communication for many years.

what is correct to use? Despite or Althouhg? and why?


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## Ariel Knightly

jaraki said:


> hi,
> 
> in a sentence:
> 
> __although__________data link communication has reached an advanced stage of development, verbal communication is likely to remain the prime means of air-ground communication for many years.
> 
> what is correct to use? Despite or Althouhg? and why?


Acho que já disseram isso acima, mas vamos lá. _Despite _é uma *preposição*, então seu complemento é um *sintagma nominal* - um grupo de palavras com um substantivo como núcleo. _Although _é uma *conjunção*, então inicia uma *oração *- construção com sujeito e predicado. 

data link communication - *sujeito*
has reached - *verbo*
an advanced stage of development - *complemento*

*sujeito *+ *verbo *+ *complemento *= *oração*

Embora esse sujeito seja um sintagma nominal, o fato de ele funcionar como sujeito de uma oração impossibilita o uso de _despite_, entende?

*Macetinho:*

.Despite SOMETHING, ...
.Although something does something, ...


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## jaraki

vlw pela resposta Ariel..

o macetinho foi 10 tb!


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## Ariel Knightly

De nada. Eu fico feliz em ajudar. 

Eu estava aqui pensando sobre o assunto e cheguei à conclusão que vale a pena acrescentar os seguintes exemplos:

*(1) *_He is good company, *in spite of */* despite* the fact that he talks all the time._
*(2)*_ He is good company, *although */* even though* he talks all the time._

Como você pode ver, _he talks all the time_ é claramente uma oração, por isso usa-se _although _em (2). Já _the fact that he talks all the time_ é um sintagma nominal com uma oração dentro dele, o que pode confundir um pouco. Perceba, entretanto, que _the fact_ não é sujeito de coisa alguma. Isso deve ajudar a entender:

"He is good company, despite this fact."
"What?"
"The fact that he talks all the time."


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## Outsider

4TranslatingEnglish said:


> This is a lesson I had to learn the hard way. It originates from the fact that, in Portuguese, "apesar de", natural translation for "despite", can indeed be followed by a personal prenoun:
> "apesar de ele / apesar de isto"
> In English, one has to resort to "although".


Nesse casos eu não usaria _despite_ nem _although_, mas _in spite of_.


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## Ariel Knightly

4TranslatingEnglish said:
			
		

> This is a lesson I had to learn the hard way. It originates from the  fact that, in Portuguese, "apesar de", natural translation for  "despite", can indeed be followed by a personal prenoun:
> "apesar de ele / apesar de isto"
> In English, one has to resort to "although".





Outsider said:


> Nesse casos eu não usaria _despite_ nem _although_, mas _in spite of_.


I think _despite _can be used in the same way as _in spite of_. The former is just more formal than the latter.

The expression _apesar de_ can be translated as both _although _and _despite_, that's why some Brazilian students have a hard time learning these words. 

Apesar de a bíblia não condenar a poligamia, ... [Although]
Apesar do fato do Brasil ser o país do futebol, ... [Despite]


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## Outsider

Pensando bem, concordo com você.

Ao mesmo tempo, "despite I never had..." soa-me extraordinariamente mal, mas tenho de admitir que "apesar de que nunca tive..." é ao menos possível em português. Portanto a tradução que propus antes não dá para todos os casos.


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## 4TranslatingEnglish

Outsider said:


> Pensando bem, concordo com você.
> 
> Ao mesmo tempo, *"despite I never had..." soa-me extraordinariamente mal,* mas tenho de admitir que "apesar de que nunca tive..." é ao menos possível em português. Portanto a tradução que propus antes não dá para todos os casos.



Não soa mal: é um erro enorme. (A tareia que levei no fórum de inglês por causa disso!) O "despite" nunca é seguido por um pronome pessoal. Tem de ser "despite the fact that I..." Ou um pronome possessivo: "despite my lacking of...".
O português é muito mais permissivo com o "apesar de". Logo, podemos dizer "apesar de o Brasil ser..." sem usar a palavra "facto". Em inglês, não podemos evitar o "facto". Só contornando a frase.
_In spite of_ vai dar ao mesmo. Também não se pode usar um pronome pessoal, só possessivo: _in spite of his..._, _in spite of the fact that...
_Confesso que pessoalmente tanto detesto o _despite _como o _in spite of_. 
Enough said.


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