Despite - what to say with verb ( ing )

[Skrynbez]

Hello,

This is a short question, I thinki maybe to short.

I know I can use despite with nouns, like in examples " He is still not ready despite his preparations", "The boat is still on the water despite the leak caused by a crash".

What grammar constraction/rule would allow me to say same but with verb? For example : "He is still not ready ____ he has been preparing himself for a long time"

Thanks for answers, and if you don't have time just name the rule, I will probably find on the net.

 

[probus]

You can say "He is still not ready despite preparing himself for a long time".

 

[Raymott]

Most "rules" aren't named, and this is really a question of grammatical usage not rules.

 

[Skrynbez]

Thank You for answers ( I am not techer).

Well I am not learning english at my university. I had english at school and I remember that english teachers didn't like the usage presented above by probus.

Is there really no other way to say that? I found some explanation about despite and it says that usage of despite requires noun ( despite + noun ).

Also I read there that we can use "although" and "even though" with the sentence ( although + something + verb+ing ). But does it have same meaning?
"He is still not ready although he has been preparing himself for a long time."

 

[Matthew Wai]

usage of despite requires noun ( despite + noun ).

'Preparing' in post#2 is a gerund, which is a noun.

Not a teacher.

 

[Tarheel]

despite + noun ).


"He is still not ready although he has been preparing himself for a long time."

That has the same meaning as what Probus posted in post 2.

 

[emsr2d2]

Thank you for your answers (I am not teacher).

Well, I am not learning ​English at my university. I [STRIKE]had[/STRIKE] learnt some English at school and I remember that English teachers didn't like the usage presented above by probus.

Is there really no other way to say that? I found some explanation about "despite" and it says that the usage of "despite" requires a noun (despite + noun).

Also, I read there that we can use "although" and "even though" with the sentence (although + something + verb+ing). But does it have the same meaning?
"He is still not ready although he has been preparing himself for a long time."

Please see my corrections above in red. It's important to follow the rules of written English at all times:

- Start every sentence with a capital letter.
- End every sentence with a single, appropriate punctuation mark.
- Always capitalise the word "I".
- Always capitalise proper nouns (English, Microsoft, Italy).
- Do not put a space before a comma, full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.
- Always put a space after a comma, full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.
- Do not put a space after an opening bracket.
- Do not put a space before a closing bracket.

I can assure you that "despite" does not have to be followed by a noun.

 

[Tarheel]

When I saw "I am not learning English" I wanted to say "Is that because they don't teach it there or because you're not a good student?" I decided not to do that. (But I guess I have now.) In fact, I decided not to do a whole bunch of stuff (as emsr2d2 demonstrated).

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, Skrynbez:

Are you acquainted with Michael Swan's widely respected Practical English Usage? He agrees with all the posters in this thread.

Let me quote him: "In spite of is used as a preposition. In spite of + noun means more or less the same as although + clause."

As explained by the other posters, Mr. Swan reminds us that "In spite of can be followed by an -ing form."

He claims that "despite" is used in "more formal English."


(I have the 1995 edition of his book. See entry 273 on page 258.)