オウイング トゥ

Translation

because of / due to / as a result of / on account of

Meaning

Owing to means because of — it explains the cause or reason for something. It is a formal preposition used in writing and professional speech. 'Owing to heavy rain, the match was cancelled.' (because of the rain) 'The flight was delayed owing to technical problems.' Owing to is essentially interchangeable with due to and because of in most contexts. However, purists traditionally argue that: - Due to = caused by (should follow a 'to be' verb): 'The delay was due to fog.' - Owing to = because of (can modify the whole sentence): 'Owing to fog, the match was postponed.' In practice, this distinction is rarely observed even by native speakers.

Examples

• 天候不良のために試合が延期された。
  The match was postponed owing to bad weather.
• 交通渋滞のために会議に遅刻した。
  I was late to the meeting owing to traffic.