にもかかわらず is a formal grammar structure in Japanese used to convey that something is ‘in spite of (A)’, or ‘despite (A)’. This pattern is a combination of に, も, the う-Verb 拘(かか)わる ‘to fixate on’, or ‘to stick to’, and the literary auxiliary verb ず, which connects with verbs in the same way, and carries the same meaning as ない.
This structure is most frequently seen connected to verbs, い-Adjectives and nouns in their standard forms. In most cases, this pattern will appear without kanji.
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浜崎(はまさき)さんは毎日(まいにち)一生懸命(いっしょうけんめい)働(はたら)いていたのにもかかわらず、会社(かいしゃ)をクビになった。
Despite working hard every day, Hamasaki-san was fired by the company.
彼(かれ)が悪(わる)いのにもかかわらず、私(わたし)に謝(あやま)らそうとしてきた。
Despite him being in the wrong, he tried to make me apologize.
田中(たなか)さんは優(やさ)しくて親切(しんせつ)であるにもかかわらず、見(み)た目(め)が怖(こわ)いから田中(たなか)さんのことをよく知(し)らない人(ひと)からは怖(こわ)がらて避(さ)けられている。
Despite Tanaka-san being kind and helpful, he is feared and avoided by those who do not know him well because of his scary appearance.
深夜(しんや)にもかかわらず、上司(じょうし)が鬼電(おにでん)をしてきたので労基(ろうき)に報告(ほうこく)しようと思(おも)う。
Despite being late at night, my boss blew up my phone, so I am thinking of reporting it to the labor standards inspection office.
Literally, this phrase can be thought of as expressing ‘without being affected by (A), (B)’, or ‘without fixating on (A), (B)’. However, it is almost always used in exactly the same way as のに ‘despite’.
Caution - It is important not to get
にも拘(かか)わらず mixed up with に関(かか)わらず. The former expresses ‘despite’, while the latter tends to be used more often for ‘no matter if’.
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お客(きゃく)さんが来(く)ることを知(し)っていたにもかかわらず、部屋(へや)の掃除(そうじ)をしていなかったので息子(むすこ)を叱(しか)った。
Despite knowing that we were going to have guests over, my son did not clean his room so I scolded him.
お客(きゃく)さんが来(く)るかどうかに関(かか)わらず、部屋(へや)は綺麗(きれい)にしておいてください。
Please keep your room clean no matter if guests are coming or not.