despite与in spite of
Despite用作介词时,与 in spite of同义,都表示“尽管”、“虽然”、“不顾”之意,但程度有所不同.
一般说来,in spite of的语气较强,使用范围也较广； despite的语气较弱,多用于诗歌或正式的文体中.Despite可以写作despite of,也可以写作 in despite of；in spite of则可以写作 spite of,但这些写法已少用了.例：
Despite his advanced years,he is learning to drive．
虽然年事已高,他现在在学驾驶汽车.
Despite the drought,we expect a good crop．
尽管天旱,丰收依然在望.
In spite of the police brandishing their clubs and pistols,people showed not the slightest fear．
尽管警方挥动着短棍及手枪,但人们毫不畏惧.
We arrived at the station in spite of the storm．
虽然有暴风雨,我们依旧准点到达火车站.
应当在此指出的是,在现代英语里,despite和in spite of的差距已日渐缩小,很多人已将它们互换使用.
Despite除作介词外,尚可用作名词,表示“蔑视”、“憎恨”、“无意对待”之意

despite和in spite of 后面都接名词性成分 如名词、动名词、名词性从句 用法基本一致 但他们后面接句子一般用despite/in spite of the fact that 的结构 that后是同位语从句 这样比较正式
English became the official language in spite of/despite the fact that the population is largely chinese.
despite of不要用 据说是古用法 现在有考试算错误
be about to 就是将要做某事 I was just about to ask you the same thing. 后面接时间状语从句一般用when， be about to 表示一个时间点 不好用延续性动作 而瞬时动作一般用when引导