Usage of due to and by

Question

1) Forests are being destroyed due to fast development.

2) Forests are being destroyed by fast development.

Do you feel meaning difference between them? If you do not like the example sentences, you can use your own.
What I would like to know is if due to, because of, and by can be used interchangeably for the same meaning?

Thank you.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

AnonymousDo you feel meaning difference between them?

There is no meaning difference.

AnonymousWhat I would like to know is if due to, because of, and by can be used interchangeably for the same meaning?

Yes, generally (I don't know whether 'by' will work in all cases). I have a personal antipathy to 'due to', left over from an earlier grammar point that is no longer generally followed:

Usage Note (Am Heritage Dict):

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.

Anonymous · Answer

I am sorry about asking this question again late, but I would like to make sure I got you right.

The two example sentences mean the same, right?

And due to and because of are interchangeable, but by is not always, right?

From now on, I should ask one by one because I just got confused with my own questions

Mister Micawber · Answer

AnonymousThe two example sentences mean the same, right?And due to and because of are interchangeable, but by is not always, right?

Right and right.

Usage of due to and by

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions