Why should I replace Despite in this sentence with While?
Wrong:
Despite this book is useful, many students have not started reading it.
Correct:
While this book is useful, many students have not started reading it.
Learn English – replace “Despite” in this sentence with “While”
conjunctionsprepositions
Best Answer
Despite and in spite of are prepositional expressions having the same meaning and are interchangeable. They are used in sentences to express a contrast between two things. They are used only with nouns or ing forms and never in spite of / despite + clause. While can be used in clauses to balance a contrast.
The sentence should be rewritten using despite as:
Despite the book's being useful, many students have not started reading it.