due to, because of 与 owing to 均可表示“由于”、“因为”,按照传统语法:due to 主要引导表语,而 because of, owing to 两者都主要引导状语。如:
His illness is due to bad food. 他生病是由于吃了不好的食物。
The accident was due to careless driving. 这次车祸起因于驾驶疏忽。
He can’t come because of the bad weather. 他不能来是因为天气不好。
Owing to the rain, the match was cancelled. 比赛因雨被取消了。
但是在现代英语中,due to 也可用来引导状语,而 owing to 也可以用来引导表语。如:
由于交通拥挤他迟到了。
正:He was late due to / owing to / because of the very heavy traffic.
正:Due to / Owing to / Because of the very heavy traffic, he was late.
because of 通常只用来引导状语,若引导表语,主语通常应为代词。如:
It is all because of what you said. 那完全是因为你说的话。