272 273 274 in spite of 272 in spite of In spite of is used as a preposition. In spite of + noun means more or less the same as although + clause. We went out in spite of the rain. (= ... although it was raining.) We understood him in spite of his accent. (=... although he had a strong accent.) In spite of is the opposite of because of. Compare: She passed her exams in spite of her teacher. (She had a bad teacher.) She passed her exams because of her teacher. (She had a good teacher.) In spite of can be followed by an -ing form. In spite of having a headache I enjoyed the film. In spite of cannot be followed directly by a that-clause. Instead, we can use in spite of the fact that. He is good company, in spite of the fact that he talks all the time. This is rather heavy: although means the same, and is more common. In more formal English, despite can be used in the same way as in spite of. indeed very ... indeed Indeed is often used to emphasise very with an adjective or adverb. Twas very pleased indeed to hear jrom you. He was driving very fast indeed. Thank you very much indeed. Indeed is unusual in this sense without very, and is not normally used after extremely or quite. (nor He-was-driving fast indeed.) (nor He-t iving-queit indeed.) indeed with verb Indeed can also be used after be or an auxiliary verb in order to suggest confirmation or emphatic agreement. This is rather formal. It is common in short answers (see 517). We are indeed interested in your offer, and would be glad to have prices. It’s cold. ~It is indeed. Henry made a fool of himself. ~ He did indeed. indirect speech (1): introduction direct and indirect speech When we report people’s words, thoughts, beliefs etc, we can give the exact words (more or less) that were said, or that we imagine were thought. This kind of structure is called ‘direct speech’ (though it is used for reporting thoughts as well as speech). So he said, I want to go home,’ and just walked out. She asked ‘What do you want?’ And then I thought, ‘Well, does he really mean it?’ page 246