malia / a pesar de

Despite: Malia and a Pesar De

Level 4

Malia and a pesar de mean despite. Put a noun or an infinitive after them: Malia a chuvia, saímos (despite the rain, we went out).

How It Works

With a noun or an infinitive

  • malia + noun: Malia a chuvia, saímos a pasear (despite the rain, we went for a walk). Malia is a preposition on its own, so there is no de after it.
  • a pesar de + noun or infinitive: A pesar de estar canso, veu á festa (despite being tired, he came to the party).
  • pese a is a synonym of a pesar de: Pese ao frío, a praia estaba chea. Note the contraction a + o = ao.

With a full clause

Add que: malia que, a pesar de que, pese a que. They work like aínda que: the indicative presents a fact, and the subjunctive presents a possibility. Malia que estaba enfermo, foi traballar (although he was ill, he went to work).

Keep the de. In a pesar de que, the de is required: a pesar de que chovía, never a pesar que chovía.

With the personal infinitive. When the infinitive has its own subject, Galician can mark it with an infinitive ending: Malia sermos poucos, a festa saíu moi ben (although there were few of us, the party went very well).

Examples (6)

  1. Malia a chuvia, saímos a pasear.

    Despite the rain, we went out for a walk.

    Word by Word: Despite the rain, we-went-out to walk.

    Malia is followed directly by the noun, with no de.

  2. A pesar de estar canso, veu á festa.

    Despite being tired, he came to the party.

    A pesar de + infinitive, with the same subject as the main verb.

  3. Malia que estaba enfermo, foi traballar.

    Although he was ill, he went to work.

    Malia que + indicative presents the illness as a fact.

  4. A pesar de que chovía, fomos á feira.

    Even though it was raining, we went to the market.

    Before a clause, a pesar de keeps de and adds que.

  5. Pese ao frío, a praia estaba chea de xente.

    Despite the cold, the beach was full of people.

    Pese a means the same as a pesar de; a + o contracts to ao.

  6. Malia sermos poucos, a festa saíu moi ben.

    Although there were few of us, the party went very well.

    Sermos is the personal infinitive of ser for nós.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding de after malia.

    Malia da chuvia, saímos.
    Malia a chuvia, saímos.

    Malia is a preposition on its own and is followed directly by the noun: malia a chuvia, not malia da chuvia.

  • Dropping de in a pesar de que.

    A pesar que chovía, fomos á feira.
    A pesar de que chovía, fomos á feira.

    The full form is a pesar de que; the de cannot be left out.

  • Putting a conjugated verb straight after malia.

    Malia estaba canso, veu.
    Malia que estaba canso, veu.

    A clause with its own verb needs que: malia que.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

malia / a pesar deLevel 4Despite: Malia and a Pesar De

Learn This First

Despite expressions introduce a circumstance that does not prevent the main outcome.

Words in This Pattern

malia