using "due to...."
val189
"The rehearsal was canceled due to the director's illness."? Should
one use "because of"? When is "due to" all right to use?
Will
In the example given, "due to" is fine, and interchangeable with
"because of". Offhand, I can't think of a useful rule to guide in
their usage.
Will.
angelgl...@yahoo.com
> Is it considered proper to use "due to", as in
> "The rehearsal was canceled due to the director's illness."?
Why not?
>Should
> one use "because of"?
"Due to" is smoother. As Thoreau said in another context: "Simplify,
simplify, simplify."
When is "due to" all right to use?
"Due to circumstances beyond her control, Miss Otis regrets she's unable
to lunch today, Madam."
CDB
There is a rule, which I was taught in school, that, because "due" is
an adjective, "due to" should only be used to qualify nouns or noun
phrases. Under this rule, it would be proper to say "The cancellation
of the rehearsal was due to the director's illness," but not to say
what you gave above as an example.
As you have seen from other replies, some people do not agree with
this rule. For a fact, it does not seem to be widely observed.
Purl Gurl
> val189 wrote:
A simple guideline which works fairly well is,
due - owe
because - reason
When "due" is used, slip in "owe" or "owed" in place
then read your sentence.
"The cancellation of the rehearsal was due to the director's illness."
"The cancellation of the rehearsal was owed to the director's illness."
"The cancellation of the rehearsal was because of the director's illness."
All bets are off when this is related to a pregnancy due!
"Because she is late pregnant, she is due soon. (she owes us a baby)
--
Purl Gurl
--
So many are stumped by what slips right off the top of my mind
like a man's bad fitting hairpiece.
Purl Gurl
> val189 wrote:
>> Is it considered proper to use "due to", as in
>> "The rehearsal was canceled due to the director's illness."?
> "Due to circumstances beyond her control....
"Because of circumstances beyond her control...."
Due is used for a context of owe, owed, owing. Due requires
a debt, an entitlement, an expectation, merit, duty and
similar meanings. Due is not a reason. Due is an obligation.
She is expecting. She is due soon.
He has no money. He worries about what is due.
To find Bear spirit, you must travel due east.
Because of her good writing, she has earned her due.
The UnInmate
"val189" <gweh...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:31221929-fa3a-4a8a...@c65g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...
> Is it considered proper to use "due to", as in
> "The rehearsal was canceled due to the director's illness."? Should
> one use "because of"? When is "due to" all right to use?
I was taught that things are "due to" a noun and "because of" everything
else. So "smoke due to a forest fire" but "smoke because of trees burning."
Alan Jones
"Will" <bill...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:6a0f7fe7-c080-4f11...@b1g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
_____________________________
The traditional rule is that "due to" introduces an adjective phrase: "The
cancellation was due to ..." The examples given require adverb phrases. When
I started teaching, the supposed misuse of "due to" was regarded as a
serious error. I'm sure it isn't penalised these days, but I still can't
bring myself to say or write "It was due to ..." or indeed to split an
infinitive or to leave my hat on when entering a shop. Silly, but there you
are.
Alan Jones
The UnInmate
"Alan Jones" <a...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1oIhk.8270$5O6....@newsfe14.ams2...
Not silly at all, Alan. Most of us have little power beyond the power to
make personal choices, so it's vital that we make those. I don't wear a hat
but I do avoid splitting infinitives and misusing phrases such as "due to."
This is in parallel to what you do, and, much to the contrary of what the
putative tyrants of bad grammar would have us do, theirs is often a purely
personal choice as well.
(Just to clarify, the putative tyrants mentioned above are not anyone on
this newsgroup, but rather the miseducated youth who run around getting
hostile when someone speaks in a way they don't find "cool.")
Skitt
A word or two about this:
From AHD4 and The American Heritage® Book of English Usage:
USAGE NOTE: Due to has been widely used for many years as a compound
preposition like owing to, but some critics have insisted that due should be
used only as an adjective. According to this view, it is incorrect to say
The concert was canceled due to the rain, but acceptable to say The
cancellation of the concert was due to the rain, where due continues to
function as an adjective modifying cancellation. This seems a fine point,
however, and since due to is widely used and understood, there seems little
reason to avoid using it as a preposition.
From M-W Online:
usage
The objection to due to as a preposition is only a continuation of
disagreements that began in the 18th century over the proper uses of owing
and due. Due to is as grammatically sound as owing to, which is frequently
recommended in its place. It has been and is used by reputable writers and
has been recognized as standard for decades. There is no solid reason to
avoid due to.
--
Skitt (AmE)
going with the flow
Jonathan Morton
> news:6a0f7fe7-c080-4f11...@b1g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
> On Jul 23, 2:24 pm, val189 <gwehr...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>> Is it considered proper to use "due to", as in
>> "The rehearsal was canceled due to the director's illness."? Should
>> one use "because of"? When is "due to" all right to use?
>
>> In the example given, "due to" is fine, and interchangeable with
>> "because of".
No, under the traditional rule, that should have been "owing to".
> The traditional rule is that "due to" introduces an adjective phrase: "The
> cancellation was due to ..." The examples given require adverb phrases.
> When I started teaching, the supposed misuse of "due to" was regarded as a
> serious error. I'm sure it isn't penalised these days, but I still can't
> bring myself to say or write "It was due to ...".
But, Alan, under the rule that you (and I) were taught, that wouldn't have
been wrong, surely.
Curiously, under this rule, "owing to" should be much more common than "due
to" - but the (traditionally) correct use of "owing to" has been all but
driven out.
Regards
Jonathan
Adrian Bailey
news:31221929-fa3a-4a8a...@c65g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...
> "The rehearsal was canceled due to the director's illness."?
Yes.
> Should one use "because of"?
Yes.
> When is "due to" all right to use?
Always. Having said that, I tend to use "because of" because it's less
hifalutin than "due to" or "owing to".
Adrian
Robert Lieblich
[ ... ]
> Due is used for a context of owe, owed, owing. Due requires
> a debt, an entitlement, an expectation, merit, duty and
> similar meanings. Due is not a reason. Due is an obligation.
>
> She is expecting. She is due soon.
> He has no money. He worries about what is due.
> To find Bear spirit, you must travel due east.
> Because of her good writing, she has earned her due.
Hey, Purly. Seems as if no one else has bothered to point out that
you have once again spouted nonsense. Barrister Bob to the rescue --
Purlie, you have once again spouted nonsense.
No thanks necessary.
--
Your favorite lawyer
Steve Hayes
wrote:
>Is it considered proper to use "due to", as in
>"The rehearsal was canceled due to the director's illness."? Should
>one use "because of"? When is "due to" all right to use?
"Due to" means "caused by".
If "caused by" fits in the sentence, it is safe to se "due to".
So you could say "The cancellation of the rehearsal was due to the director's
illness."
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk
Purl Gurl
> Purl Gurl wrote:
> No thanks necessary.
Why would a person thank you? Quite typical of
you to contribute nothing of value.
Alan Jones
"Jonathan Morton" <jona...@jonathanmortonbutignorethisbit.co.uk> wrote in
message news:Q9KdnUGIodo5ChrV...@bt.com...
> "Alan Jones" <a...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:1oIhk.8270$5O6....@newsfe14.ams2...
>>
>> "Will" <bill...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:6a0f7fe7-c080-4f11...@b1g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
>> On Jul 23, 2:24 pm, val189 <gwehr...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>>> Is it considered proper to use "due to", as in
>>> "The rehearsal was canceled due to the director's illness."? Should
>>> one use "because of"? When is "due to" all right to use?
>>
>>> In the example given, "due to" is fine, and interchangeable with
>>> "because of".
>
> No, under the traditional rule, that should have been "owing to".
>
>> The traditional rule is that "due to" introduces an adjective phrase:
>> "The cancellation was due to ..." The examples given require adverb
>> phrases. When I started teaching, the supposed misuse of "due to" was
>> regarded as a serious error. I'm sure it isn't penalised these days, but
>> I still can't bring myself to say or write "It was due to ...".
>
> But, Alan, under the rule that you (and I) were taught, that wouldn't have
> been wrong, surely.
Quite right. I was contradicting myself.
Robert Lieblich
>
> Robert Lieblich wrote:
[ ... ]
> > Hey, Purly. Seems as if no one else has bothered to point out that
> > you have once again spouted nonsense. Barrister Bob to the rescue --
> > Purlie, you have once again spouted nonsense.
>
> > No thanks necessary.
>
> Why would a person thank you?
For my coruscic wit, perhaps?
> Quite typical of you to contribute nothing of value.
Ah, praise from the master. Takes one to know one -- right, PG?
Purl Gurl
> Purl Gurl wrote:
>> Robert Lieblich wrote:
(snipped)
>> Why would a person thank you?
> For my coruscic wit, perhaps?
Yeah, you are about as funny as al-Autistiqui.
>> Quite typical of you to contribute nothing of value.
> Ah, praise from the master. Takes one to know one -- right, PG?
I am not a master, I am a mistress.
Jeffrey Turner
Sun rose in the east again, did it?
--Jeff
--
The struggle with evil by means of violence
is the same as an attempt to stop a cloud,
in order that there may be no rain. -Leo Tolstoy
Robert Lieblich
>
> Robert Lieblich wrote:
>
> > Purl Gurl wrote:
> >
> >
> > [ ... ]
> >
> >
> >>Due is used for a context of owe, owed, owing. Due requires
> >>a debt, an entitlement, an expectation, merit, duty and
> >>similar meanings. Due is not a reason. Due is an obligation.
> >>
> >>She is expecting. She is due soon.
> >>He has no money. He worries about what is due.
> >>To find Bear spirit, you must travel due east.
> >>Because of her good writing, she has earned her due.
> >
> >
> > Hey, Purly. Seems as if no one else has bothered to point out that
> > you have once again spouted nonsense. Barrister Bob to the rescue --
> > Purlie, you have once again spouted nonsense.
> >
> > No thanks necessary.
>
> Sun rose in the east again, did it?
Gotta protect the NNES-ers.
Richard Bollard
So Bob, you are saying that PG tips are just sweepings from the
factory floor?
--
Richard Bollard
Canberra Australia
"Enlightenment is just a cup away" yeah, right. Bloody big cup.
Purl Gurl
> Robert Lieblich wrote:
>> Purl Gurl wrote:
>>> Robert Lieblich wrote:
(snipped)
>>>> Hey, Purly. Seems as if no one else has bothered to point out that
>>>> you have once again spouted nonsense.
>>> Quite typical of you to contribute nothing of value.
>> Ah, praise from the master.
> So Bob, you are saying that PG tips are just sweepings from the
> factory floor?
Sweepings from the jungle floor. I am THE Zen Monkey.
I am the monkey on your back. I am the monkey on your
mind. I am THE Zen Monkey of Monkey Business.