In spite of and despite

In spite of and despite are prepositional expressions.

In spite of and despite have a similar meaning to although or even though. They express a contrast between two things. They are both more common in writing than in speaking. Despite is a little more formal than in spite of.

We usually use in spite of and despite with a noun:

He got the job in spite of his prison record.
[recession is a time when the economy of a country is not good]
John’s company is doing extremely well despite the recession.

We can also use in spite of and despite with -ing:

He was very fast in spite of being terribly overweight.
They arrived late despite leaving in plenty of time.

warning

We don’t use a that-clause after in spite of or despite. We use in spite of the fact that or despite the fact that:

When they arrived at Malaga it was hot, in spite of the fact that it was only the end of April.
Not: … ~~in spite of that it was only the end of April~~

In spite of is written as three separate words. We never use of with despite:

They enjoyed the rides in spite of the long queues. (or … despite the long queues.)
Not: … ~~inspite the long queues~~ or … ~~despite of the long queues~~.