Owing to

Question

"These values can fluctuate owing to the high sensitivity of the sensors to operating temperature."
A native speaker told me that the "owing to" sounded wrong and suggested using "due to" in stead. This took me by surprise, because although I'm aware that some people opt for "owing to", rather than "due to", when an adverbial phrase for expressing the cause is needed, his comment is the exact opposite. Do you agree with his view? If so, what's wrong with the "owing to"? Is that because it looks as if it had been chosen merely to avoid "due to" and so sounds too stilted?
Also, have I worded my question correctly? I would appreciate suggestions on this point, too.
Becky

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]"These values can fluctuate owing to the high sensitivity of the sensors to operating temperature." A native speaker told me ... that because it looks as if it had been chosen merely to avoid "due to" and so sounds too stilted?[/nq]
It sounds okay to me, but Google shows that "fluctuate due to" is used a hundred times as often as "fluctuate owing to." I don't know why. I vaguely recall that some people have some strong opinion about "due to" but I don't know what.
[nq:1]Also, have I worded my question correctly? I would appreciate suggestions on this point, too.[/nq]
I don't know exactly what you meant by "his coment is the exact opposite." Perhaps you're just saying, "his opinion is the other way around."

Best wishes Donna Richoux

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]"These values can fluctuate owing to the high sensitivity of the sensors to operating temperature." A native speaker told me ... that because it looks as if it had been chosen merely to avoid "due to" and so sounds too stilted?[/nq]
Possibly, or maybe he's just misremembered the old shibboleth about "due to". I think either is fine, though I would probably go for "due to" myself.

Don Aitken
Mail to the addresses given in the headers is no longer being read. To mail me, substitute "clara.co.uk" for "freeuk.com".

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]"These values can fluctuate owing to the high sensitivity of ... merely to avoid "due to" and so sounds too stilted?[/nq]
[nq:1]Possibly, or maybe he's just misremembered the old shibboleth about "due to".[/nq]
I just found that entry in the FAQ. I never remember any problem with "due to" myself, but I know it's been discussed here.

"due to"

"Due to" meaning "caused by" is undisputedly correct in contexts where "due" can be construed as an adjective (e.g., "failure due to carelessness"). Its use in contexts where "due" is an adverb ("He failed due to carelessness") has been disputed. Fowler says that " due to is often used by the illiterate as though it had passed, like owing to , into a mere compound preposition". But Fowler was writing in 1926; what hadn't happened then may well have happened by now.
As usual, Fowler fails to commuicate his concerns to me. I just pulled out his Dictionary of Modern English and found the full entry, which is only slightly clearer. He appears to think that "owing to" is better in certain sentences than "due to." If I work out his examples right, he would recommend:
The old trade union movement is a dead horse, largely owing to the incompetency of the leaders. -OR-
The failure of the old trade union movement is largely due to the incompetency of the leaders.
Some articles have increased in price, owing to the increasing demand. -OR-
The increase in price on some articles is due to the increasing demand.
So, Fowler meant "to be due to" is used like a main verb, while "owing to" is is more of a conjunction.
That ends up not connecting to Becky's question. Unless that concern had confused her helpful friend.
[nq:1]I think either is fine, though I would probably go for "due to" myself.[/nq]
Best Donna Richoux

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]"These values can fluctuate owing to the high sensitivity of the sensors to operating temperature." A native speaker told me ... rather than "due to", when an adverbial phrase for expressing the cause is needed, his comment is the exact opposite.[/nq]
That's true with "some people" including the notorious (or illustrious, depending on your point of view) Mr Fowler.
[nq:1]Do you agree with his view?[/nq]
No. Your sentence is fine as it stands. However, why argue about "due to" or "owing" to when there are one-word options that are better than both: "because", "since" and "given"?
Other versions for your sentence could be:
Given the sensors' high sensitivity to operating temperatures, these values may fluctuate.
These values may fluctuate because/since the sensors are highly sensitive to operating temperatures.
[nq:1]If so, what's wrong with the "owing to"? Is that because it looks as if it had been chosen merely to avoid "due to" and so sounds too stilted?[/nq]
It sounds a little bit stilted, but it's still quite common in scientific or technical papers and reports, so if you want to use it because it fits the style of what you're writing for, then go ahead.
[nq:1]Also, have I worded my question correctly? I would appreciate suggestions on this point, too.[/nq]
It's fine, assuming you meant this (which isn't better by any means it's just another, slightly more accurate and technical, way of putting it):
A native speaker told me that the "owing to" sounded wrong and suggested using "due to" instead. This puzzled me, because I thought that some people actually preferred "owing to" in cases such as this to introduce an adverbiable phrase claiming that "due to" should only be used as a copula.

Ross Howard

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Possibly, or maybe he's just misremembered the old shibboleth about "due to".[/nq]
[nq:1]I just found that entry in the FAQ. I never remember any problem with "due to" myself, but I know ... what hadn't happened then may well have happened by now. As usual, Fowler fails to commuicate his concerns to me.[/nq]
This is the full entry from Gowers' 1968 edition of MEU (double quotes replace italics in the original). The reference to "the original edition of the present dictionary" is to the 1926 version. It seems to me that Gowers was unduly reluctant to throw over Fowler here; the battle had long been lost by 1968; many people, like you, find it difficult to grasp that it was ever an issue.
DUE. Has "due to", using the weapon of ANALOGY, won a prescriptive right to be treated as though it had passed, like OWING TO, into a compound preposition? May we now regard as idiomatic such sentences as: Due to the great depth of water, air pressures up to 50 lb. per square inch will be necessary. / Rooks, probably due to the fact that they are so often shot at, have a profound distrust of man. / Due to last night's rain play will be impossible before lunch? Or must we say that, although in these quotations "owing" to would stand, "due", which must, like ordinary participles and adjectives, be attached to a noun, and not to a notion extracted from the sentence, is impossible; that it is not the pressures, the rooks, and play that are due but the force of the pressure, the timidity of the rooks, and the absence of play?The prepositional use of "owing to" is some 150 years old, but of a similar use of "due to" there is not a vestige in the OED (1897); in the 1933 Supp. it is said to be 'frequent in U.S. use', and in 1964 the COD tersely dismisses it as 'incorrect'. The original edition of the present Dictionary said this: 'It is now as common as can be, though only, if the view taken in this article is correct, among the illiterate; that term is here to be taken as including all who are unfamiliar with good writers, and are consequently unaware of any idiomatic difference between "Owing to his age he was unable to compete" and "Due to his age he was unable to compete".

Perhaps the illiterates will beat idiom; perhaps idiom will beat the illiterates; our grandsons will know.'
Now, when this usage is still 'as common as can be' and is freely employed by BBC announcers, it seems clear that idiom, though still resisting stoutly, is fighting a losing battle. The offending usage has indeed become literally part of the Queen's English:

"Due to inability to market their grain, prairie farmers have been faced for some time with a serious shortage of sums to meet their immediate needs." (Speech from the Throne on the opening of the Canadian Parliament by Elizabeth II, 14 Oct. 1957.)

Don Aitken
Mail to the addresses given in the headers is no longer being read. To mail me, substitute "clara.co.uk" for "freeuk.com".

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]"These values can fluctuate owing to the high sensitivity of the sensors to operating temperature." A native speaker told me ... that because it looks as if it had been chosen merely to avoid "due to" and so sounds too stilted?[/nq]
The native speaker is wrong in the generalisation. "Due to" (meaning "caused by") is often misused. "Owing to" is less often misused.

But in order to knoew whether either was misused, one would need to see a sample of the use.

Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

Usenet · Answer

>
This is probably one of the times where it matters whether you are writing for a UK or US audience. It is my impression that "owing to" has gone out of fashion in the US, but is still common in the UK.
>
"instead"
"Is it because it looks"
Some minor points:
"adverbial phrase for expressing" => "adverbial phrase to express" I would say "stilted" rather than "too stilted" here.

Richard Maurer To reply, remove half
Sunnyvale, California of a homonym of a synonym for also.

Usenet · Answer

>
Has anyone ever done a gloss of Fowler?
One that cuts through all those double negatives,
one-and-two-half negatives, disparaging remarks,
He is for this one
and against that one.
Do you have to be English to understand him?
Richard Maurer To reply, remove half
Sunnyvale, California of a homonym of a synonym for also.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]"These values can fluctuate owing to the high sensitivity of the sensors to operating temperature." A native speaker told me ... and so sounds too stilted? Also, have I worded my question correctly? I would appreciate suggestions on this point, too.[/nq]
Three points.
1. When I was at grammar school in the late 70s we were taught the "rules"regarding "due to" and "owing to". I think the fact that even then real people made no distinction between the two made it impossible for me to remember what the rule was. Whenever I see either it reminds me that there is a rule but I don't know what it is.
2. "Due to" continues to be a vogue phrase. People just love using it,whether it's appropriate or not.
3. In situations where "due to" might be an option, I almost always write"because (of)", it being the bog-standard equivalent. I would use it in your sentence above.
Adrian

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