BECAUSE OF, BECAUSE, AND DUE TO

BECAUSE OF, BECAUSE, AND DUE TO

by MS. Novi

​​“Because Of” vs. “Due To”

• Due to is an adjective, which indicates it can only modify pronouns and nouns.

• Because of is an adverb, which implies it can modify verbs, adjectives and clauses, but not nouns and pronouns.

​EXAMPLES

• ​Her anger was due to the broken window.

• She was angry due to the broken window.

Both sentences may sound and read right, but they are not.

​Her anger was due to the broken window.

​She was angry due to the broken window.

​In the first sentence, due to modifies anger; thus, the usage of due to is correct.

In the second sentence, due to is not modifying any noun or pronoun (her).

Therefore, the usage of due to is inappropriate in this case.

​​She was angry due to the broken window.

​The correct sentence will be:

• She was angry because of the broken window.

In this sentence, because of modifies the verb was angry.

​MAKE IT EASY

​There is a simple trick to find the correct usage of due to and because of.

Replace due to with caused by and see if the substitution works. If it works, Voila! You’re right.

• Low revenue was due to lack of sales.

• Low revenue was caused by lack of sales.

In this case, the substitution works, indicating correct usage.

• I missed the train due to traffic.

• I missed the train caused by traffic.

The substitution doesn’t sound right, so the correct usage will be:

• I missed the train because of traffic.

​Because of VS Because

​Because of and because are both used to introduce reasons. 

 Because of is a preposition, it is  generally followed by a verb+ing or a noun.

 Because is a conjunction, it is followed by a subject and a verb.

 ket.

In this example, we have: 'feeling sick'  a verb+ing.Here is an example of Because :

 * Because  Maria  was feeling  sick, she didn't go to the supermarket.

In this example, we have:

'Maria'  the subject, 'was feeling'  the verb.

​

​ And here is an example of Because of :

* Because of  her sickness, Maria didn't go to the supermarket.

In this example, we have: 'her sickness'  a noun.   Another example of Because of :

* Because of  feeling sick, Maria didn't go to the supermarket