Although, Despite and However Error Correction

In proofreading, first check what comes after the contrast word. If the next words form a full clause with a subject and verb, although is usually the repair: "Although it was late, we continued." If the next words are a noun phrase or -ing form, despite is usually better: "Despite the delay, we continued." If you have two complete ideas, however normally needs a full stop or semicolon before it and a comma after it. This route trains that decision by making you click the exact wrong chunk instead of rewriting the whole sentence.

Despite already contains the preposition meaning, so standard English does not add of after it. Write "despite the rain", not "despite of the rain". The related phrase is "in spite of", where of is required because the full expression is three words. In correction tasks, this means you need to notice whether the sentence starts with despite or in spite. If it says "despite of", remove of. If it says "in spite the warning", add of. The route includes both patterns because learners often mix the two fixed forms.

However is not used like but when it connects two complete sentences. A comma alone is usually not enough in formal writing: "The test was hard, however most students passed" needs repair. Use a full stop before however, or a semicolon if the two ideas are closely connected: "The test was hard. However, most students passed" or "The test was hard; however, most students passed." In this route, those items often have two small fixes: the boundary before however and the comma after however.