due to?

Welcome Blunotesong, According to my handy-dandy usage guide, "due to" introduces an adjective phrase and should modify nouns. It is normally used after a form of the verb "to be."

His outburst was due to frustration. (In this case, "due to" modifies outburst.)

She left her job because of the lack of possibilities for advancement. ("Because of" introduces adverbial phrases and should modify verbs. In this example, "because of" modifies "left.")

I hope this helps. And I hope you'll be back. Not too arduous to get around here.

So, if my confusion is due to a failure to understand the distinctions, then that's all right (because here 'due to' modifies the noun 'confusion'). But if I leave the thread due to this confusion, that's not kosher? Because here we have 'due to' inappropriately modifying the verb 'to leave'? Heaven help us. I'm giving up the English language due to a plethora of incomprehensible rules.

Andy, Come back. You can't walk out on the English language. I never knew these rules until Blunote asked. I looked them up. Who knew? I've been an editor for almost 35 years, and I was winging it up until today.

Hey Blunote, Look what you've started. LOL.

Due to this incomprehensible exchange on the English language, I am totally confused. c.i.

c.i., You're not the only one who's confused. The theory of the rules makes sense, but the practice of them doesn't sound right to my untutored ear. I've had the same experience as Blunote--avoid "due to" except when you're talking about when something is due. Now I find out that adjectival and adverbial phrases are involved.

Anyone for Pig Latin?

And this doesn't even begin to address the probelm of 'owing to'.

Fie on you, Andy. Fie on the rules. I'm gonna say "because of" for everything. Why? Just because.

When I was growing up I read (and was a delivery boy) for the Long Island daily, Newsday. It had a columnist, whose name I've forgotten, who railed about misuse of "due to" and claimed it should only be used for travel info. He never gave the reason that Roberta so helpfully does (above).

I consider myself enough of a pedant to care about many such rules ("that" vs "which" for instance), but this distinction seems really subtle...

D'Art, Subtle is a good word for it. I'm one to follow the rules of language as well, but this one is not making an impression on my brain.

Indeed, Roberta. To be honest, I suspect I'll never remember it. BTW, I just remembered the name of that columnist I was referring to earlier: Sidney Harris. He was syndicated, and it's been decades since I read him. He wrote about other topics besides hair-splitting over "due to," but he really seemed to care about that one. Go figure!

D'Art, We all have our nails-scraping-down-the-blackboard expressions. Mine is "between you and me." I have fits. Throw tantrums. Jump up and down. And occasionally spit when I hear that. Not a pretty picture. But Harris picked an obscure one. I'm trying to remember if I ever read his column. His name is not ringing a bell.

I am posting in a hurry, so don't expect me to make sense, but I think that last
'due to' was modifying a pronoun (or was it? no time to look back). Well, ne'er mind, I'll find I am wrong when I come home today.

Are two due to? (R2D2...)

Harris is a very common name, and many have been reported in the media of late. c.i.

Hi,

I had to think about the 'due to' problem:

I may say:

'I don't get the money which is due to me'
' Due to the strike, there was an uproar in town'

but MUST NOT USE

'I don't get the money which is because of me'

but I may use

'Because of the strike, there was an uproar in town'

It may make sense to say

'Owing to the strike, there was an uproar in town'

BUT MAY I USE:

'I don't get the money owing to me' (sounds completely unlike)

Please continue contributing,

thanks - - best regards
Rainer
aka
51Days

PS: MY PERSONAL CONCLUSION
'Due to', 'owing to' and 'because of' can nearly always be used when referring to something which led to a certain circumstance or is the reason for something which is then described. However, in the context in which the expression 'due to' means 'having a right to get s.th.' it is not interchangeable.

Hi 51,

This due to question hangs around my neck like Coleridge's albatross.


'I don't get the money which is due to me'

This is incorrect, 51. Money isn't due to you; it's due you. The to doesn't belong in this expression.
' Due to the strike, there was an uproar in town'

This is correct.

but MUST NOT USE

'I don't get the money which is because of me'

but I may use

'Because of the strike, there was an uproar in town'
It may make sense to say
'Owing to the strike, there was an uproar in town'

Right, right, and right.

BUT MAY I USE:

'I don't get the money owing to me' Incorrect. The money isn't owing to you; it's owed to you. Owing to means because of.

For the most part, the terms owing to and because of are interchangeable. Owing to is a more formal expression. But if I were you, I'd avoid due to unless you're waiting for a train which is due to arrive in ten minutes.

Now my eyeballs are spinning around in my head like cherries in a slot machine. But I hope I've cleared this up for you.

Good work, Roberta! I think you've cleared the air on this one...

D'art, Thanks. I certainly hope so.

Finally...
Hi @all,

@Roberta Thanks for this good lesson. It's like I thought in the first. But I have learnt a bit.

I really don't want to bother you [and I will really try to avoid having Roberta's eyes spin around like cherries in a slot machine] :wink: ,

but I may quote the example given in the PONS Cobuild English Learner's Dictionary. According to Roberta's explanations given above, the dictionary's entry might be wrong, as it is quoted:

"If some money is due to you, you have a right to it. EG You may get slightly less pension than the full amount due to you.



Quite confusing, supposed that Roberta's right, the dictionary's entry would be wrong, or vice versa. I'm about to lose the faith in good dictionaries, as I don't always have trust in what some dictionaries are trying to tell me....OK? :wink: :wink:

Don't get me wrong...just wanted to point out to that confusing example one I was looking for at home after having read the first entries within this thread.

Well, now MY HEAD SOUNDS like a slot machine being used at the limits of its capacity.

Best regards :wink:
Rainer
aka
51Days

Hi 51, So far as I know, the dictionary is wrong! Money is owed to you or due you. Honest. And my Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary agrees with me--or I with it.

As for asking questions, please don't apologize. I love answering questions. And if I don't have the answers, some other a2ker almost always does. The cause of the spinning eyeballs is this subject, not your questions. Please ask to your heart's content.