English Café: Owing to

Advanced Details: Owing to

Do you think your English writing is sometimes a little boring? You can improve by expanding your vocabulary. For example, don’t use “because” all the time.

Owing to is a 2-word preposition that means “due to,” “because of,” or “on account of.” It’s used to introduce a reason or cause for something happening. For example, “The football game was canceled owing to heavy rain.” More examples:

• “I missed my flight owing to a traffic hold-up.”
• “He was off work owing to a back injury.”
• “Owing to staff shortages, there was no restaurant car on the train.”

Owing to is good for your writing. It is similar in meaning to “due to” and can often be used interchangeably. However, in informal, spoken/conversational English, it may be more natural to use “because.”