三者均可表示“由于”、“因为”,按照传统语法:due to 主要引导表语,较正式用语,常用于官方通告和公开声明中,而 because of, 常后接人或事物,强调其为某事物发生的原因,在英语口语中更为常用;owing to [正式]因为,由于(
其后多接某事物,常可与 due to 换用。);后两者都主要引导状语。如:
The crash was due to pilot error.
飞机失事是由驾驶员的失误造成的。
The entrepreneur's success was largely due to his excellent judgment.
这位企业家的成功很大程度上是因为他卓越的判断力。
In part this attitude was due to fear of trade union and employee reactions.
在某种程度上,这一态度是由于害怕工会和雇员的反应。
The country's economic problems are largely due to the weakness of the recovery
该国的经济问题很大程度上是因为复苏乏力。
We missed the train because of you!
因为你,我们没赶上火车!
He had to cancel the trip because of the rain.
因为下雨,他只好取消这次旅行。
He was late owing to/due to the storm.
由于暴风雨,他迟到了。
Owing to/Due to bad weather, the next flight will be cancelled.
由于天气恶劣,下一航班将被取消。
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。
The game was postponed because of rain.
因雨,比赛延期了。
The ball game was postponed because of rain.
球赛因雨推迟了。
It is mainly because of my fault.
这主要是由于我的过错。
We had to leave the country because of the persecutions.
由于受到迫害,我们不得不离开这个国家。
The only reason I was divining for water was because of the drought.
我之所以探寻水源是因为发生了旱灾。
其实传统的语法规则可以丢到垃圾桶里去了,因为在现代英语中,due to 也可用来引导状语,而 owing to 也可以用来引导表语。如:
Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, this year's show has been cancelled.
遗憾的是,由于一些意外情况,今年的演出被取消了。
He was out of work owing to a physical injury .
他因为受伤而失业了。
Owing to staff shortages, there was no restaurant car on the train.
由于缺人手,这趟火车上没有餐车。
Owing to the reason known to all the relations between the two people were suspended for over twenty years.
由于众所周知的原因,两国人民间的关系中断了20多年。
Owing to a typographical error, the town of Longridge was spelt as Longbridge.
由于一个排印错误,朗里奇镇的名称Longridge被拼为了Longbridge。
It is owing to your help that we have succeeded.
我们成功多亏了你的鼎立相助。
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。
注意:
1.owing to bank [经] 欠银行的款项
2. be due to do 表示就要做什么事情;定于做什么;一定会……
The talks are due to be concluded this December.
谈判定于今年的12月结束。
The mare is due to foal [fəʊl] today.
母马今天要下小马驹了。
She is due to make a speech on the economy next week .
她将在下周作一个关于经济的演讲。
Council members are due to have informal discussions later on today .
委员会成员定于今日晚些时候进行非正式讨论。
A total solar eclipse is due to take place some time tomorrow.
明天某个时刻会发生日全食。此四例均摘自《柯林斯高阶英汉双解学习词典》