Due to vs. Because of: Distinctions and Proper Use

Is there a difference between "due to" and "because of"? How can you tell which one to use? Figure out how to structure your reasons with example sentences ... HomeGrammar Duetovs.Becauseof:DistinctionsandProperUse Duetovs.Becauseof:DistinctionsandProperUseDidtheycancelthebaseballgameduetotherainorbecauseoftherain?Believeitornot,thesephrasesaren’tsynonyms.Readontolearnabouttheslightdistinctionbetweenduetoandbecauseof–andwhentouseeachone. BecauseofvsDuetoExample Advertisement What’stheDifference? Bothbecauseofandduetoareeffectivewaystolinkaneventandthereasonsforit.Theirsimilarmeaningsmakeitseemliketheycanbeusedinterchangeably.However,usingoneinplaceoftheotherisincorrectbecausetheyarenotthesamepartofspeech. BecauseOf:Adverb Thewordbecauseisasubordinatingconjunction.However,whencombinedwithof,itbecomesapreposition.Itworksasanadverbialprepositionalphrasewhenusedwithotherwordstomodifyaverb. Youcanusuallyidentifyadverbswhentheyendin-ly.Forexample: Iwalkedhomehappily.(Theadverbhappilymodifiestheverbwalked.)Shanaquicklyrescheduledhermeeting.(Theadverbquicklymodifiestheverbrescheduled.)Theboysarguedangrily.(Theadverbangrilymodifiestheverbargued.) Adverbialprepositionalphraseswithbecauseofmodifyverbsintheexactsameway.Herearethesamesentenceswithbecauseofinsteadof-lywords. Iwalkedhomebecauseofthenewbusschedule.Shanarescheduledhermeetingbecauseofacalendarconflict.Theboysarguedbecauseofthebrokentoy. Thesesentencesexplainwhytheactionsareoccurringwithanadverbialprepositionalphrase(becauseof+noun).Iftheprepositionalphraseswerecompleteclauseswiththeirownverbs,youwouldjustusebecauseandnotbecauseof: Iwalkedhomebecausethebuswaslate.Shanarescheduledhermeetingbecausetherewasaconflictinhercalendar.Theboysarguedbecauseoneofthembrokethetoy. Bothbecauseandbecauseofcanelaborateontheverbonthesentences.However,neitheruseisinterchangeablewithdueto. DueTo:Adjective Duetoisanadjective,whichdescribesormodifiesanoun.Whencombinedwiththerestofthesentence,itfunctionsasanadjectivalprepositionalphrase.Youcan’tuseduetointhesamewayasbecauseof. Herearesomesentencesthatuseduetowhenmodifyinganoun. Thecaraccidentwasduetoadistracteddriver.(modifiescaraccident)Ivy’ssuccessisduetoherparents’dedicationandsupport.(modifiessuccess)Thecompany’sbankruptcywasduetopoorfinancialmanagement.(modifiesbankruptcy). Ifyoutrytoreplaceduetowithbecauseof,itdoesn’tsoundcompletelyincorrect.That’swhymanywritersmakethemistakeofusingtheminterchangeably.Ifyouwanttousebecauseofinthesesentences,you’dneedtoaddorchangeverbsthatitcouldmodify.Forexample: Thecaraccidenthappenedbecauseofadistracteddriver.Ivysucceededbecauseofherparents’dedicationandsupport.Thecompanywentbankruptbecauseofpoorfinancialmanagement. TheTricktoTellingtheDifference Theverbtobeandallitsforms(am,are,is,was,were)arethekeytotellingbecauseofandduetoapart.Ifasentencehasaversionoftobe,usedueto.Ifitdoesn’t,usebecauseof.Herearesomeduetovs.becauseofexamplesentences: Wefoughtbecauseofourpoliticaldifferences.(Becauseofmodifiestheverbfought.)Ourfightwasduetoourpoliticaldifferences.(Wasduetomodifiesthenounfight.)AuntSheriwonthepokerchampionshipbecauseofherexperienceinLasVegas.(Becauseofmodifiestheverbwon.)AuntSheri’spokervictorywasduetoherexperienceinLasVegas.(Wasduetomodifiesthenounvictory.)Thefinancialcrisisoccurredbecauseofriskymortgagepractices.(Becauseofmodifiestheverboccurred.)Thefinancialcrisiswasduetoriskymortgagepractices.(Wasduetomodifiesthenouncrisis.)Jacob’sdoggotoutbecauseofthebrokengate.(Becauseofmodifiestheverbgot.)Jacob’sdog’sescapewasduetothebrokengate.(Wasduetomodifiesthenounescape.) Thedifferencebetweentheseusagesissubtlebutimportant.Ifasentencesoundsawkwardoneday,youcanalwaysrewordittoclarifyyourmeaning.You’remorelikelytofindduetoinformalwriting,whilebecauseofispresentininformalwritingandconversationalspeech. Advertisement StartingaSentence Manywritersaremorecomfortablewithduetoatthebeginningofasentencethanbecauseof.Theychooseduetobecausetheyworrythatstartingasentencewithbecausemightresultinasentencefragment.However,theoppositeisactuallycorrect.Forexample: Duetopopulardemand,thebandagreedtohaveanotherconcert. Itseemslikeduetoismodifyingdemand.However,it’sactuallymodifyingagreed–whichisaverb.Inthatcase,becauseofistheappropriatechoice. Becauseofpopulardemand,thebandagreedtohaveanotherconcert. There’salmostnoinstancewhenduetocanstartasentencebecausethereisnonounforittomodify.However,ifyouensurethatthesentenceisnotafragment,startingasentencewithbecauseorbecauseofisperfectlyacceptable.(Ifyoustilldon’tlikeit,justincludetheadverbialprepositionalphraseattheendofthesentenceinstead.) DuetotheFactThat Ifyoufindthewordsduetothefactinyourwriting,editthemoutimmediately.Usingthewordfactisanunnecessarilywordywaytousedueto.Forexample: We’recancelingthepartyduetothefactthattheicerinkisclosed.Haleyfailedherclassduetothefactthatsheskippedtoomanylectures.Perry’sgardenisbeautifulduetothefactthathecaresforiteveryday. Thesesentencesaretechnicallycorrect,becauseduetomodifiesthenounfact.However,theyarewordyanddifficulttoread.Oneoptionistousebecauseofinstead. We’recancelingthepartybecauseoftheicerink’sclosure.Haleyfailedherclassbecauseofhermissedlectures.Perry’sgardenisbeautifulbecauseofhisdailycare. Althoughbetterthanbefore,theseexamplesarestillalittlestiltedbecausetheyonlyhaveoneverb(canceling,failed,is).Tryusingbecausewithouttheofasasubordinatingconjunction.Thatway,youcanincludeaverbineachclause. We’recancelingthepartybecausetheicerinkisclosed.Haleyfailedherclassbecausesheskippedtoomanylectures.Perry’sgardenisbeautifulbecausehecaresforiteveryday. Thebottomlineisthatyouneverneedtouseduetothefactthatinyourwriting.Thesamegoesfortheclunkyphraseslikeonthegroundsthatandowingtothefactthat.Becauseisagreatalternativethatwon’tgiveyourreaderaheadache. Advertisement OtherGrammarMix-Ups Doothergrammarconceptshaveyouwondering?Clearupcommonlyconfusedwordsandphraseswithmoreinformativearticles.Seeifthere’sadifferencebetweenoverandmorethanwhendescribingquantities,orfindoutwhetherwhoeverorwhomeveristherightwordtouseasarelativepronoun. JenniferGunner StaffWriter