| September 2006 | Vol. 11 Issue 3 |
Do I lose my appetite because of a stomachache, or do I lose
my appetite due to a stomachache?
That’s a trap I often see writers fall into, particularly when reading
scholarly works. Too often, writers want to use the more formal sounding
“due to” when they should be using “because of.”
According to Kelli
Trungale of the University of Houston-Victoria, “due to”
modifies nouns and often follows “to be” verbs (is, was, were,
am, etc.).
Example: My loss of appetite was due to a stomachache.
In this case, “due to” modifies “stomachache”
and follows the to be verb, “was.”
“Because of,” on the other hand, modifies verbs.
Example: I lost my appetite because of a stomachache.
In this case, “because of” modifies the verb, “lost.”
A good rule of thumb: use “because of” if you can answer the
question, “Why?” without a complete sentence.
Why did you lose your appetite? You’d answer, “Because of
a stomachache.”
So which phrase should you use?
I recommend “because of” in most situations. Why? Look at
the first example again. Notice that the only verb is “was,”
a rather weak, to be verb. In the second example, however, “lost”
is a verb and much stronger than a to be verb.
And don’t get me started on the empty phrase, “due to the
fact that . . .” This phrase almost never adds anything to your
sentence except three more words and a touch of pomposity.
Thanks to Lois Edwards for suggesting this topic.
Kevin Leigh Smith, kevlsmith@purdue.edu
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