Due to, meaning “attributable to,” modifies noun phrases, not verb clauses. If you can substitute “attributable to” for “due to” in a sentence, you’ve used the phrase correctly. If “attributable to” doesn’t work as an alternative, you need to reword.
For instance, in the sentence “The tennis match’s delay was due to the rain,” you can switch out “due to” with “attributable to,” yielding “The tennis match’s delay was attributable to the rain,” because due to modifies the noun phrase “the tennis match’s delay.” If the sentence read, “The tennis match was delayed due to the rain,” “attributable to” would no longer work as a substitute for “due to.” This is because “due to” here is misused to modify a verb phrase, “The tennis match was delayed.” Here, if you want to retain the verb phrase, an easy rewrite would be “The tennis match was delayed by the rain” or “The tennis match was delayed because of the rain.”
2 Comments
Sarah Goodwin 25 January 2023 AT 02:01 PM
Thank you for this succinct and clear explanation! I've known the difference intuitively for decades but was never able to explain it to my literature students--or anyone else who was willing to listen. It is marvelously and mysteriously satisfying to understand the principle.
C. Barney Latimer 26 January 2023 AT 02:01 PM
Thank you so much for your comment. We're delighted to know the guidance in the post was so helpful!
Join the Conversation
We invite you to comment on this post and exchange ideas with other site visitors. Comments are moderated and subject to terms of service.
If you have a question for the MLA's editors, submit it to Ask the MLA!