Despite his illness - despite his being ill

[englishstudent]

Hi,

1. He went to work despite his illness.

Is the following sentence the passive form?

2. He went to work despite being ill.

3. He bought the watch despite it being expensive.

4. He bought the watch despite it being priced high.

I am trying to explain the use of "despite being ...."
to someone. I was asked "why is 'being' needed?"
and I am not quite able to answer it.

I would appreciate any help.

Thanks

[Tdol]

2 is not a passive- you can't have despite + adjective. You could use a conjunction like although with an adjective or clause, but despite is a preposition, so you can use a gerund or a phrase like 'depsite the fact that he was ill'.

[clares]

you can have "despite" followed by noun or noun phrase : despite something, despite the fact....despite the wheather,..despite his being ill. All this can be replaced by "something".

[englishstudent]

1. ... despite being ill. (not OK)
2. .... despite his being ill. OK ?

[clares]

despite his being ill : is correct.

It is because if you dont use "his" , lacks information about who is ill. Yo can also say althoug his illness, although he was ill, despite he was ill, etc etc. In all the cases you mention who´s ill: he

[englishstudent]

despite his being ill : is correct.

It is because if you dont use "his" , lacks information about who is ill. Yo can also say althoug his illness, although he was ill, despite he was ill, etc etc. In all the cases you mention who´s ill: he

"although his illness" - does not sound right though.
"despite he was ill" - also does not sound right.

I think they are backwards -

although he was ill
despite his illness

[clares]

"although his illness" - does not sound right though.
"despite he was ill" - also does not sound right.

I think they are backwards -

although he was ill
despite his illness

Yes, you´re right. It is what Tdol said: despite+noun. Although+clause

[Tdol]

1. ... despite being ill. (not OK)
2. .... despite his being ill. OK ?

Both OK to me.