Discussion

Due to the chemical spill, the commute into the city will be delayed by as much as 2 hours.

(A)NO CHANGE
(B)...
(C)...
(D)...
(E)...
(F)...
*This question is included in Nova Grammar VI: Idioms, question #5

The solution is

Posted: 01/13/2013 05:55
I don't get this. Isn't it informal starting with "because"?
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Admin
Posted: 01/22/2013 00:40
Hi Racks Zone,

Because children often overuse 'because,' it has an informal feel. But it is being used formally in the above example.

'Due to' is prepositional phrase acting as an adjective, so it needs a noun to modify. Now, notice that a comma follows the expression 'Due to the chemical spill.' This indicates that the expression is acting as a subordinator, modifying the entire following clause. An adjective cannot do this, so the sentence is ungrammatical.

Nova Press
Posted: 12/03/2015 11:11
Is it a good idea to just eliminate answer choices that begin with due to? And narrow it down to the ones with because? Or is it possible Due to could be right?
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Admin
Posted: 12/03/2015 12:04
Hi Mohammad,

At the beginning of a sentence, 'due to' will probably always be wrong for the reason mentioned above. Elsewhere in a sentence, it may not be ungrammatical but it is usually better to replace 'due to' with words such as 'because,' 'since,' etc. 'Due to' is a loose structure and therefore should be avoided.

Nova Press

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