They can be instructed in swimming despite they are very young.
They can be instructed in swimming despite that they are very young.
Is sentence 1 or 2 right? Why?
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Sign up to join this communityThey can be instructed in swimming despite they are very young.
They can be instructed in swimming despite that they are very young.
Is sentence 1 or 2 right? Why?
Neither is correct. Despite is a preposition and should take either a noun or a gerund.
The usual expression using a noun is despite the fact (that). The that is optional and makes the sentence sound slightly more formal.
They can be instructed in swimming despite the fact (that) they are very young.
If you want to use a gerund, you should rewrite your sentence as follows:
They can be instructed in swimming despite (them) being very young.
They can be instructed in swimming despite (their) being very young.
Their and them are also optional in this case, since the subject of the gerund phrase is the same as that of the main clause. Their is more "proper" and formal.
As others have noted, despite that is still possible, but it's considered archaic or dialectal. The safest solution is either to use one of the two constructions I described above or rewrite that part using although:
They can be instructed in swimming although they are very young.
Because although is a conjunction, it can be used with a clause.
although
instead of the prepositiondespite
: They can be instructed in swimming although they are very young. – TonyK May 9 '19 at 21:23