due to preposition: 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.
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2 comments:
Couldn't this be conjunction?
Hmmm. Not according to Merriam-Webster's, no. It's an adjective (payment due, payment is due), an adverb (due north), a noun (pay your dues) and, debatably, a preposition, as discussed above. But the dictionary never categorizes it as a conjunction. And because I can't see it doing a coordinating conjunction's job linking things like nouns (as does "or" in "dinner comes with salad or soup or dessert") and I can't see it doing a subordinating conjunction's job of introducing a whole clause (as does "if" in, "If I see him ..."), I'm not thinking of any use in which it would work as a conjunction.
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