Re-write the following sentences according to the instructions given after each. Make other changes that may be necessary, but do not change the meaning of each sentence.
He is old but still he works hard. (Begin: Despite ..................)
Topic: Transformation — 'despite'
Answer
Despite being old, he works hard. (Also acceptable: Despite his age, he works hard.)
Two points decide this.
FIRST, THE FORM. It is "DESPITE", never "despite of" — the "of" belongs to IN SPITE OF and must be dropped.
SECOND, WHAT FOLLOWS. Despite must be followed by a NOUN or a GERUND, never by a full clause. So "Despite BEING old" or "Despite HIS AGE" are correct; "Despite he is old" is not.
Note also that the word BUT disappears. Once "despite" introduces the concession, a second contrast word would be redundant — the same rule that forbids "although... but".
This construction appears in the 2020, 2021 and 2023 papers as well, and the "despite of" error is the single commonest fault in it.