Going ahead in spite of something
にもかかわらず is the plain "in spite of": it says something happened all the same, and passes no judgment. Six other forms are about a person who went ahead, and each shows how the writer sees that person, from admiration to disapproval. The choice between them depends on what was in the way.
| Form | What comes before it | How the person is seen |
|---|---|---|
| にもかかわらず | Any fact: rain, a warning | No judgment either way |
| をものともせず（に） | A serious hardship: a blizzard, an injury, fierce opposition | With admiration |
| を押して | The person's own illness or injury | Usually with respect |
| を押し切って | Other people's opposition | With sympathy or blame |
| をよそに | Other people's feelings: worry, objections, hopes | Usually with unease |
| を顧みず | A risk or a cost | With praise if the risk is their own, blame if others pay |
| もかまわず | What makes most people hold back: onlookers, the late hour | Usually with surprise or disapproval |
All of them follow a noun.
にもかかわらず: the plain "in spite of"
にもかかわらずN2Written, formal
Formal, and stated as fact. Any praise or blame comes from the rest of the sentence.
Despite the bad weather, the rescue operation went on as planned.
をものともせず: undeterred by a hardship
Full pageをものともせず（に）N1
をものともせず is for someone who runs into a hardship that would stop most people and keeps going anyway. The writer admires them, so it is said about other people, and the hardship is a big one.
Undeterred by the fierce blizzard, the rescue team continued searching for those who were missing.
Sounds odd: 弟は
Undaunted by the drizzle, my little brother walked to the convenience store.
With something this small it comes out as a joke.
を押して: in spite of an illness or injury
Full pageを押して・
を押して is mostly for someone who goes ahead in spite of an illness or injury of their own, and the effort is usually respected.
My father attended the ceremony despite his illness.
病 is a literary word for illness.
をものともせず follows pain or an injury too, but shows the person differently.
The athlete played in the final despite the injury.
The athlete is hurt, and pushes through it.
Undaunted by the pain in his leg, the player fought through the entire overtime period.
The player thinks nothing of the pain.
を押し切って: overriding opposition
Full pageを押して・
を押し切って nearly always follows 反対, opposition: other people objected, and were overridden. Whether the writer sympathises or blames depends on who overrode whom. 反対を押し切って is said in everyday conversation as well as written.
sympathy
The two of them married over the objections of everyone around them.
blame
The ruling party pushed the bill through over the objections.
をよそに: paying no heed to other people's feelings
Full pageをよそにN1
をよそに follows what other people feel or say, and says that someone carries on as if it were no concern of theirs. The writer is usually uneasy or detached, not admiring.
Paying no heed to his parents' worry, the son headed off into the dangerous winter mountains.
Worry is a feeling, not a hardship, so をものともせず is not the natural choice here.
をよそに also follows what is going on all around. Then nobody is blamed: something simply goes on, untouched by it.
Recession or no recession, there is a line outside this shop every day.
After 反対: をものともせず, を押し切って or をよそに?
反対 can stand before all three, and each tells the same event differently.
Undeterred by her family's objections, she quit her job and went abroad.
The objections didn't daunt her, and the writer admires her.
Overriding her family's objections, she quit her job and went abroad.
She faced the objections and overrode them. The writer may sympathize or blame.
Paying no heed to her family's objections, she quit her job and went abroad.
She treated the objections as no concern of hers. The writer is uneasy or detached.
With no judgment, it is 家族の反対にもかかわらず.
Where it goes wrong
About yourself, をものともせず sounds like admiring your own courage.
Not said: 私は
(I went to work, undeterred by a high fever.)
You would just say what happened: 熱があったけど、出勤した.
を押し切って looks like を押して, but an illness can only be endured, not overridden.
Not said: 彼は
(He took the exam in spite of a high fever.)
高熱を押して.
をよそに does not follow an illness either: it follows something outside the person.
を顧みず: with no thought for a risk or a cost
Full pageを顧みずN1
を顧みず says that someone doesn't stop to think about a risk or a cost. As a rule it is praise when the risk is their own, and blame when others pay.
praise
Heedless of the danger, the reporter stayed at the scene and went on reporting.
blame
The company abruptly ended the service with no thought for the effect on its users.
家庭を顧みず is the set way to say that someone neglects their family. This one is said in conversation too, and about yourself, with regret.
When I was young I neglected my family and did nothing but work.
もかまわず: not caring who is watching
Full pageもかまわずN2
もかまわず says that someone doesn't care about what would make most people hold back: who is watching, how late it is, getting dirty. It is usually said with surprise or disapproval. You meet it in accounts of what someone did, spoken as well as written.
Not caring who was watching, the two of them hugged on the station platform.
Even though some people were asleep, they kept making noise, not caring how late it was.
She picked up the puppy, not caring that her clothes would get muddy.
After a clause it is のもかまわず. Here you are touched, not disapproving.
Two set phrases have no も.
所かまわずwherever they happen to be
He talks loudly on the phone wherever he happens to be.
なりふりかまわずwith no thought for appearances
She worked with no thought for appearances, and brought up three children.
What people say in conversation
You meet をものともせず, を押して, をよそに and を顧みず in reading: news, sports reports, biographies, novels. In conversation people say のに, or just say what happened. Of someone who turned up ill, friends say 熱があるのに無理して来た. 親の心配をよそに is 親が心配しているのに, and 自らの安全を顧みず is 自分の安全も考えずに.
にかかわらず, without も: "regardless of"
にかかわらずN2Rules and notices
"Regardless of", for a rule that holds whatever the case. Nobody is going ahead in spite of anything.
This course is open to everyone, regardless of age.