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I was doing my homework but I'm stuck on this exercise. The instructions say: Complete these sentences: (my answers are in brackets)

  1. “Don’t be fool; the dog’s dancing was … the extremely hot pavement.” (due to)

  2. “I came home earlier yesterday … I was too tired.” (because)

  3. “It can’t be played ... infringements.” (because of)

  4. "Royal Jelly is used … its natural healing properties". (because of)

  5. “ … all of this, their freezer would be filled with ice cream and joy for years!” (because of)

  6. “… the storm, this Easter we won’t have our picnic.” (because of)

  7. “The damage was … the lack of motor oil.” (due to)

  8. “Dialects in Italy vary …few kilometres of distance.” (because of)

  9. “It seems they lost the match … the quarterback’s illness.” (because of)

  10. “We can’t buy any ticket now … they’re sold out.” (because)

  11. “I didn’t buy the eggs … you forgot to write it on the list!” (because)

  12. “I’m not going on holiday… incoming taxes to pay.” (because of)

  13. “We didn’t go out … the strike.” (because of)

  14. “If I am still alive that is … him.” (because of)

  15. “ … the bad weather, they can’t deliver until Monday!” (because of)

The options are: due to/on account of/because of/because/owing to.

I knew that "due to" as an adjective is mainly used after the verb "be" in sentences like "The cancellation of the concert was due to a heavy thunderstorm" whereas the others are prepositional phrases so the same sentence would be "The concert was cancelled owing to/on account of/because of a heavy thunderstorm".

But I'm a bit confused which one should I pick? Am I wrong about their usages?

Luca
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1 Answers1

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From the website: Quick and Dirty Tips, some practical advice

Wordy Ways to Say “Because”

First, let’s disparage all the wordy ways to express the meaning “because.” There are quite a few: “due to the fact that,” “owing to the fact that,” “on account of,” and “on the grounds that,” for example. If you use “because” instead of those beasts, you can save up to four words ...

The traditional view is that you should use “due to” only as an adjective, usually following the verb “to be” (1). For example, if you say, “The cancelation was due to rain,” the words “due to” modify “cancelation.” That sentence is a bit formal, but it fits the traditionalist rule.

From A Practical English Grammar by A.J. Thomson, A.V. Martinet

due to (preposition) means ‘a result of’:
The accident was due to carelessness.

owing to means ‘because of’:
Owing to his carelessness we had an accident.

due to should be preceded by subject + verb, but English people are careless about this and often begin a sentence with due to instead of with owing to

Because of, due to, and owing to express the reason for something. They are usually followed by a noun. On account of is very formal and can be used interchangeably with due to and owing to.

In very formal writing, it would seem that sentences No.5, No.6 and No.15 should begin with owing to rather than because of/due to

Mari-Lou A
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