Due to / owing to

Question

Here is a question asked in Oxford Advanced Exam;

The concert was cancelled ........ poor ticket sales..

a) due to
b) owing to
c) in spite of

Answer is "due to".. What is the difference between due to and owing to in this sencente ?

when i googled "due to poor ticket sales" it gives 11000 results, but "owing to poor ticket sales" gives only 52 results, same situation for "bad weather conditions".. What makes the answer A according to Oxford ?

Clive · Accepted Answer

There's no real difference, but 'due to' is certainly more common.
Perhaps because it is shorter.

Clive

Fivejedjon · Answer

I am surprised that any examination board would ask that question these days. Few native speakers would know what the 'correct' answer was supposed to be.

19216801 · Answer

good question and good answer too
Good Luck Everyone

KJinCali79 · Answer

I found this usage note:

due to

prep.
Because of.

Usage Note: Due to has been widely used for many years as a compound preposition like owing to, but some critics have insisted that due should be used only as an adjective. According to this view, it is incorrect to say The concert was canceled due to the rain, but acceptable to say The cancellation of the concert was due to the rain, where due continues to function as an adjective modifying cancellation. This seems a fine point, however, and since due to is widely used and understood, there seems little reason to avoid using it as a preposition.

With this usage note in mind the correct answer would be "owing to."

The concert was cancelled owing to poor ticket sales.

The cancellation of the concert was due to poor ticket sales.

The end of the usage note points out that there is little reason for this distinction, and most native speakers would not notice this subtlety, but if the question is posed as such, I believe it is a distinction they specifically want to make.

Fivejedjon · Answer

KJinCali79I found this usage note:

Please credit your source. Thank you.

KJinCali79 · Answer

fivejedjon KJinCali79I found this usage note:Please credit your source. Thank you.

American Heritage Dictionary, fourth edition, updated 2009.

Yoong Liat · Answer

The concert was cancelled owing to poor ticket sales.
The cancellation of the concert was due to poor ticket sales.

Many writers and, I believe, native speakers nowadays don't observe this distinction.

Due to / owing to

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