Linking Words Exercise 1

Choose however, although or despite:

1. ___________ the rain, we still went to the park.

2. ___________ it was raining, we still went to the park.
3. It was raining. ___________, we still went to the park.
4. John bought the watch, ___________ the fact that it was expensive.
5. John bough the watch. ___________, it was expensive.
6. ___________ it was expensive, John bought the watch.
7. I finished the homework. It, ___________, wasnt easy.
8. I finished the homework, ___________ it wasnt easy.
9. ___________ the fact that it wasnt easy, I finished the homework.
10. She went for a long walk, ___________ being cold.
11. ___________ she was cold, she went for a long walk.
12. She was cold. She went for a long walk, ___________.
13. The restaurant has a good reputation. ___________, the food was terrible.
14. ___________ the restaurants good reputation, the food was terrible.
15. ___________ the restaurant has a good reputation, the food was terrible.

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May be freely copied for personal or classroom use.
Linking Words Exercise 1 Answers:

1. Despite the rain, we still went to the park.

2. Although it was raining, we still went to the park.
3. It was raining. However, we still went to the park.
4. John bought the watch, despite the fact that it was expensive.
5. John bough the watch. However, it was expensive.
6. Although it was expensive, John bought the watch.
7. I finished the homework. It, however, wasnt easy.
8. I finished the homework, although it wasnt easy!
9. Despite the fact that it wasnt easy, I finished the homework.
10. She went for a long walk, despite being cold.
11. Although she was cold, she went for a long walk.
12. She was cold. She went for a long walk, however.
13. The restaurant has a good reputation. However, the food was terrible.
14. Despite the restaurants good reputation, the food was terrible.
15. Although the restaurant has a good reputation, the food was terrible.

2014 www.perfect-english-grammar.com
May be freely copied for personal or classroom use.
 L INKING W ORDS S HOWING C ONTRAST

1
in spite of / despite + noun phrase In spite of his age, he still drives
+ -ing verb a car.

despite is more formal Despite being old, he still drives
a car.
2
although / though / + subject + verb Although / though he is old, he
even though still drives a car.

Even though he is old, he still
drives a car.

3
in spite of the fact / despite Despite the fact he is old, he still
the fact drives a car.
4
however / nevertheless The French exam was easy.
They show two contrasting facts However, the chemistry exam
Nevertheless is stronger than however was difficult.
5
on the one hand, on the On the one hand, the city offers
other hand, lots of entertainment. On the
They show contrasting sides of the other hand, it's very noisy.
same person or thing
On the other hand is often used alone The lecture was boring. On the
other hand, it was very short.
6
on the contrary, + subject + verb The economy won't improve
It strengthens the negative of this year. On the contrary, it is
something likely to get worse.
7
whereas / while Their house is on top of a hill,
They introduce a contrast whereas/while ours is in the
between two people or things valley.
which are in other ways
similar
8
in contrast to / contrary to + noun phrase In contrast to other TV shows,
this one is very amusing.


1
in spite of, despite: a pesar de
2
although, though, even though: aunque
3
in spite of the fact, despite the fact: a pesar del hecho de
4
however, nevertheless: sin embargo
5
on the one hand, on the other hand,: por un lado,por otro,
6
on the contrary: por el contrario
7
whereas, while: mientras
8
in contrast to / contrary to: a diferencia de / al contrario de

Name: Date: / /
LINKING WORDS SHOWING CONTRAST EXERCISES


1. REWRITE THESE SENTENCES USING in spite of, despite AND however / nevertheless.

1.1 he was never satisfied / he was one of the richest men in the world

_____________________________________________________________________

1.2 we arrived on time / the heavy traffic on the motorway

_____________________________________________________________________

1.3 our team lost two early goals / our team won comfortably in the end

_____________________________________________________________________

1.4 our present economic difficulties / the company should recover next year.

_____________________________________________________________________

1.5 the police chief fought against the Mafia / he received death threats

_____________________________________________________________________

1.6 she became president of the company / widespread prejudice against women

_____________________________________________________________________

1.7 the planet is beautiful / there is something frightening about it

_____________________________________________________________________

1.8 the Ancient Greeks discovered steam power / they did not use it industrially

_____________________________________________________________________

1.9 my sister eats meat / my brother is a strict vegetarian

_____________________________________________________________________

1.10 modern computers occupy much less space / early computers took up whole rooms

_____________________________________________________________________
2. READ THE NEWS ITEMS BELOW. CHOOSE BETWEEN although AND in spite of or despite.

2.1 The government has announced that although / in spite of the sharp downturn in
economic activity, it will not abandon its anti-inflation policy. Although / In spite of
unemployment increased by 250,000 last month, tight control of government
spending is seen as the key to recovery.
2.2 Famines and food shortage have increased in the Third World despite / although
improved methods of agriculture. Moreover, in spite of / although there is actually a
surplus of some type of food in Western Europe and the USA, much of this food is
wasted, or even destroyed.


3. INSERT on the other hand OR in the contrary IN THESE SENTENCES.

3.1 Schools nowadays do not encourage memorisation, ________________________,
pupils do more projects and investigate work than before.
3.2 Our firm has no objections to employing older people. ________________________,
applications from people over 50 will be welcomed.
3.3 I have never heard John say anything bad about you. ________________________,
he's always spoken well of you.
3.4 The original Salko GL was not an advanced car, technically,
________________________, it was inexpensive, comfortable and easy to maintain.


4. INSERT whereas OR although.

4.1 Whales and dolphins are not fish ________________________ spend their lives in
water.
4.2 English is a Germanic language ________________________ French is descended
from Latin.
4.3 Smoking is still a common habit ________________________ people know it is
harmful.
4.4 Mercury is a metal ________________________ it is a liquid at room temperature.
4.5 Many people believe in astrology ________________________ it lacks any scientific
proof.
4.6 Soccer is played with a round ball ________________________ rugby is played with
an oval ball.
4.7 In Britain, spring starts in April ________________________ in Australia it starts in
September.

5. FILL IN THE BLANKS WITH A SUITABLE PHRASE.

5.1 Helen wasn't hungry. Nevertheless, ________________________________________

5.2 Even though _________________________________________________, everyone

walked past him.

5.3 In contrast to _________________________________________, I usually stay at

home at weekends.

5.4 On the one hand, we love travelling abroad. On the other hand, _________________

________________________________________________

5.5 My son is interested in sport, whereas ______________________________________

5.6 In spite of ___________________________________________________, Mark isn't

afraid of driving.
 Using linking words to show contrast
(Download this explanation in PDF here.)
Read about linking words of reason (because, since, due to ...) here.

We use linking words to join ideas together when we're talking or writing. Sometimes
we want to link two ideas that are different from each other (for example, one is a
positive idea and one is a negative idea) or we want to link one idea to another one
which is surprising or unexpected. We can use linking words like 'however',
'although' and 'despite' to do this.

Although
We can use 'although' at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence. It is used in
front of a clause (a clause has at least a subject and a verb that agrees with the
subject).

Although the weather is bad, I love London.

I love London, although the weather is bad.

Despite / in spite of
We use 'despite' or 'in spite of' before a noun or a gerund. It can also go in the middle
or at the beginning of a sentence. 'Despite' and 'in spite of' mean exactly the same
thing. You can choose whichever one you like! If you want to use 'despite' or 'in spite
of' before a clause, you need to add 'the fact that'.

I love London despite the bad weather.

I love London in spite of the bad weather.
Despite the bad weather, I love London.
In spite of the bad weather, I love London.

Despite the fact that the weather is bad, I love London.

In spite of the fact that the weather is bad, I love London.
I love London despite the fact that the weather is bad.
I love London in spite of the fact that the weather is bad.

However
We use 'although' and 'despite / in spite of' to connect two clauses in the same
sentence. On the other hand, 'however' isn't used to connect two clauses. Instead, we
usually put the two ideas in two separate sentences. We put 'however' in the second
sentence, and we can put it at the beginning, at the end, or after the subject.

I love London. However, the weather is bad.

I love London. The weather, however, is bad.
I love London. The weather is bad, however.

 Otherwise unless in addition in
fact Moreover although hence whereas
Furthermore despite therefore instead
nonetheless however

1. She got the job _______________ the fact that she had very little experience.

2. My sister's hand-writing is always so neat, _______________ mine is a total mess.

3. I lost the game, but I told myself that I had improved a lot _______________.

4. You'd better wear a helmet when you go roller-blading. _______________, you could
hurt yourself.

5. Reading is an excellent way to increase your vocabulary. _______________, it can also

help you improve your grammar.

6. The student's essay was badly written. _______________, it was too short.

7. Wine will spoil if exposed to light; _______________, wine bottles are usually green or
yellow.

8. Alcohol can delay your reaction times; _______________, you should never drink and
drive.
9. _______________ we have talked about the dangers of smoking to the students before,
I think the information bears being repeated.

10. Our prime minister is an incompetent leader. ____________, his government is

financially irresponsible.

11. In March of 1999, more than 130 nations signed a United Nations Treaty banning land
mines; ____________, the United States, Russia and China did not sign.

12. He was an absolute failure in medical school, so he decided to try law ____________.

13. Margaret Mead once observed, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed
citizens can change the world. ____________, it's the only thing that ever has."

14. You are not eligible for a subsidized bus pass ____________ you are a full-time student.

1. Eating well is important for good health. _______________, it helps to make you more
attractive.

2. The apartment is very pretty and, _______________, the rent is quite low.

3. Research has shown that bright yellow and bright blue are the most visible, and
_______________ safest, colours for cars.
4. Our production costs have increased, _______________ our prices have gone up as well.

5. You'd better work on improving your pronunciation; _______________, you'll fail the
speaking test.

6. She has decided to stay with her husband _______________ the fact he cheated on her
with her best friend.

7. I'm not really interested in history, but the lecture was quite interesting
_______________.

8. _______________ most substances shrink when they are cooled, water actually
expands.

9. ____________ each individual is unique, members of the same species share certain
obvious common features.

10. No, I don't want to go to dinner with you. ____________, I'd like you to stop asking me
out, because I'm really not interested.

11. There is no wind on the moon, so ____________ someone disturbs them, an

astronaut's footprints will last forever!

12. A snake has no ears; ____________, its tongue is extremely sensitive to sound
vibrations.
13. I tried to phone you, but I dialed the wrong area code, and got someone living in Louisiana
____________.

14. He was weakened by the disease, and ____________ vulnerable to infection.

1. I haven't really studied for this exam, ________ I feel a little nervous.
so
unless
but

2. I told him not to come, ________ he came anyway.

since
unless
but

3. Do not do anything ________ you hear from him first.

unless
since
therefore

4. ________ I was really tired, I took a nap for 15 minutes.

Although
Since
Unless

5. ________ she likes to play basketball, her favorite sport is tennis.

While
Because
Since

6. ________ it was really hot outside, I wore shorts.

Although
Since
Unless

7. He has always done well on exams. This time, ________, he failed.

however
accordingly
moreover

8. I won't be able to borrow any more money ________ I pay off some of my previous
debts.
but
until
although

9. ________ he wasn't a good player, he had a great game.

Since
Because
 Although

10. The little girl slept ________ her father played the guitar.
while
therefore
until