B2 First · Grammar · Pattern 10 of 10
Concession and result — despite and in spite of against although, so and such, too and enough — the words that join two ideas.
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Although it was raining, we went for a walk.
DESPITE
We went for a walk rain.
Linking items test what a connecting word is allowed to be followed by. 'Although' takes a full clause with a subject and a verb; 'despite' and 'in spite of' take a noun or an -ing form. The meaning is identical — a contrast — so the item is purely about the grammar after the link: 'although it was raining' becomes 'despite the rain', and 'although she was exhausted' becomes 'in spite of being exhausted'.
The result links work the same way. 'So tired that she couldn't finish' becomes 'too tired to finish'; 'too cold to swim in' becomes 'not warm enough to swim in'. In each case a clause turns into an infinitive, and the negative moves or disappears because 'too' already carries it.
'Despite of'. It does not exist. 'Despite the rain' or 'in spite of the rain'; the 'of' belongs only to 'in spite'. Candidates blend the two and lose a mark on a structure they know.
The order after 'enough'. 'Enough' comes after an adjective ('warm enough') and before a noun ('enough time'). And 'too … for somebody to do' needs the 'for': 'too heavy for anyone to lift'. The object 'it' at the end of the original goes, because the box is now the subject of the infinitive.
Name the relationship first — contrast or result — then look at what the second sentence gives you after the gap. A noun means you need 'despite' or 'because of'; a verb with a subject means 'although' or 'even though'; a bare infinitive means 'too' or 'enough' in front of it.
Then flip what has to flip. 'Too cold' becomes 'not warm enough' — opposite adjective, negative added. 'So … that … couldn't' becomes 'too … to' — negative removed. 'Because he didn't have enough experience' becomes 'because of his lack of experience' — a clause into a noun phrase, and five words exactly.
Only in length. Both are followed by a noun, a pronoun or an -ing form, both can take 'the fact that' to introduce a clause, and the exam treats them as one item. 'Despite' is the one that gets 'of' wrongly attached, so the key word is often DESPITE to test exactly that.
By what follows. 'So' takes an adjective or adverb on its own ('so loud'); 'such' takes an adjective with a noun ('such loud music', 'such a long film'). With uncountable and plural nouns there is no article after 'such' — 'such a loud music' is the error the item is set to catch.
