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#2 (permalink) Fri May 09, 2008 8:31 am due to, because of, thanks to? |
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| "Largely due to" is the common expression. |
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Molly I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008 Posts: 4017
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#3 (permalink) Fri May 09, 2008 17:04 pm due to, because of, thanks to? |
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| that's all? |
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Vaok I'm here quite often ;-)
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#4 (permalink) Fri May 09, 2008 17:24 pm due to, because of, thanks to? |
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| Yes. |
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Molly I'm a Communicator ;-)
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Nessie I'm a Communicator ;-)
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#6 (permalink) Sat May 10, 2008 7:01 am due to, because of, thanks to? |
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Hi, Nessie
I think you're a bit off the mark. The reason why "due to" is right is that it is the only choice that collocates with "to be". I believe you cannot say "to be thanks to" or "to be because of". But you can say "to be due to". Or even "to be due" (like my report is due tomorrow) |
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Lost_Soul I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 15 Sep 2006 Posts: 1861 Location: South Park, Colorado, USA
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#7 (permalink) Sat May 10, 2008 8:40 am due to, because of, thanks to? |
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| That is because of the complexity. Isn't it right? Lost soul? thanks. |
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Vaok I'm here quite often ;-)
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#8 (permalink) Sat May 10, 2008 11:16 am due to, because of, thanks to? |
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| Quote: |
| Besides, as far as I know, "due to" is used when you refer to something as a bad cause of some certain problem. |
Due to the efforts of Ms Tomsen, we have managed to make a decent profit this year. |
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Molly I'm a Communicator ;-)
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Nessie I'm a Communicator ;-)
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#10 (permalink) Sat May 10, 2008 15:39 pm due to, because of, thanks to? |
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| so what on earth are the differences, friends? |
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Vaok I'm here quite often ;-)
Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 159
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Nessie I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 16 Feb 2008 Posts: 1102
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#12 (permalink) Sat May 10, 2008 18:06 pm due to, because of, thanks to? |
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Hi Nessie,
I'm going to get on my hobby horse again and issue a word of warning, a caveat, a bit of advice. Don't take anything in the bnc or google or doodle dolly's mixture as adding authenticity to a word or phrase. They merely report what people have written and said. It's better to listen to broadcasts of English, read books in English and see/hear these words/phrases in context and then you can make a judgement. I bet if you popped 'I dunno' in BNC, you'd come up with a bucket load of examples of how Tom, Whoever and Harry used them but I wouldn't recommend the use of the expression.
Alan _________________ English as a Second Language You can read my ESL story A day in the life of a stately home owner |
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Alan Co-founder

Joined: 27 Sep 2003 Posts: 9191 Location: UK
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#13 (permalink) Sat May 10, 2008 18:22 pm due to, because of, thanks to? |
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I'm not quite sure what to make of this: BNC search results for "I dunno"
Nessie, I would say that your teacher's advice was not too bad as an extremely general guideline or tendency. However, it should definitely NOT be viewed as an absolute rule.
Ms Google and the BNC can be handy tools. However, as is the case with many tools, you need to learn how to use them well. . |
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Yankee I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 16 Apr 2006 Posts: 8265 Location: USA
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#14 (permalink) Sat May 10, 2008 19:40 pm due to, because of, thanks to? |
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| Alan wrote: |
| I bet if you popped 'I dunno' in BNC, you'd come up with a bucket load of examples of how Tom, Whoever and Harry used them but I wouldn't recommend the use of the expression. |
Just out of curiosity, Alan, what exactly was your recommendation? I presume it was one (or both) of the following: 1) You should never write "I don't know" as "I dunno" 2) You should never pronounce "I don't know" as "I dunno"
I assume that at least some people in your neck of the woods pronounce "I don't know" as something that sounds like "I dunno"? How common would you say that pronunciation ("I dunno") is in everyday speech? . |
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Yankee I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 16 Apr 2006 Posts: 8265 Location: USA
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#15 (permalink) Sat May 10, 2008 22:34 pm due to, because of, thanks to? |
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| Alan wrote: |
Hi Nessie,
I'm going to get on my hobby horse again and issue a word of warning, a caveat, a bit of advice. Don't take anything in the bnc or google or doodle dolly's mixture as adding authenticity to a word or phrase. They merely report what people have written and said. It's better to listen to broadcasts of English, read books in English and see/hear these words/phrases in context and then you can make a judgement. I bet if you popped 'I dunno' in BNC, you'd come up with a bucket load of examples of how Tom, Whoever and Harry used them but I wouldn't recommend the use of the expression.
Alan |
A little bit amateur regarding advice there, Alan, Sorry to say so. Just how many broadcasts and books would I have to read to know what commonly collocates with "due to" in BrEng? Can you point us in the direction of such sources? And why would such broadcasts and books have any more authority than the BNC regarding authenticity of use? |
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Molly I'm a Communicator ;-)
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| "Here is my two cents" vs "Here are my two cents"? | pay attention or don't care |