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Causes and reasons can be shown by prepositions that vary slightly in meaning and use
THE VARIETY OF CAUSAL PREPOSITIONS IN ENGLISH
Causal prepositions help to show either a cause or a reason (see 306. Ways of Giving a Reason). There are surprisingly many in English. Common ones are through, with, out of, because of, behind, as a result of, due to, down to, over, owing to, on account of, thanks to and courtesy of. The multi-word nature of most of these does not stop them being prepositions (see 221. Multi-Word Prepositions). This post is mainly about the differences between them.
The main characteristic that establishes the above expressions as prepositions is their need for partner wording, usually placed after them, that is a noun or noun-like but not the subject, object or complement of a verb (see 84. Seven Things to Know about Prepositions, #1). Consider this:
(a) Children are vulnerable because of their trust in adults.
None of the partner words after because of here is a verb. The central word trust is a noun, shown to be such by the noun-needing word their before it. If we wanted to use the verb TRUST instead, we would have to put it into the the noun-like form (their) trusting (see 70. Gerunds), or replace because of with the verb-allowing conjunction because (+ they trust: see 61. “Since” versus “Because”).
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ADJECTIVAL VERSUS ADVERBIAL USES
In English as a whole, combinations of a preposition and its partner wording (“preposition phrases”) are typically usable like either an adjective (saying something about another, earlier noun) or an adverb (saying something about a verb, adjective or whole sentence). For detailed examples, see 53. “As”, “Like” and “Such As”.
Sometimes, however, an English preposition + noun has only an adjectival or only an adverbial use. Except cannot make adverbial phrases unless it has a following adverb or additional preposition (+noun) – combinations with a directly-following noun are usually adjectival (see 215. Naming Exceptions). Elsewhere, the choice of a particular preposition with a particular noun may create a restriction: on the whole, for example, is adverbial, its adjectival equivalent being as a whole (see 164. Fixed Preposition Phrases).
Some causal prepositions allow both adjectival and adverbial uses, and some do not. Because of is in the first group, as the following examples show (capitals highlighting the described word each time):
(b) ABSENCE because of sickness costs a great deal. (ADJECTIVE USE 1)
(c) The country’s sports SUCCESS was because of government funding. (ADJECTIVE USE 2)
(d) Malaria SPREADS because of poverty. (ADVERB USE)
The adjective uses in (b) and (c) correspond to the two main uses of adjectives in English: next to their described noun (= absence) or separated from it by a link verb like BE (cf. success). The only feature that adjective-like preposition phrases lack compared to adjectives is ability, when next to the noun they are describing, to go directly before it.
In (d), because of introduces an adverb phrase clarifying a verb, spreads. This cannot be describing the only noun in the sentence, malaria, because SPREAD is not a linking verb like BE. The function is also adverbial in (a), where the clarified word is an adjective (vulnerable). Adverbial because of phrases can, in special circumstances, drop because of without losing its meaning (see 311. Exotic Grammar Structures 9, #6).
In older grammar books, one of the differences between causal prepositions in the list above involves the adjectival and adverbial uses. Due to is said in these books to be usable only in the adjective ways, while owing to is held to be solely adverbial. Hence, these books would rule out the use of due to in (a) and (d), and the use of owing to in (b) and (c). However, many mother-tongue speakers of English today seem unaware of this difference, as due to in particular is increasingly heard in both uses.
A more definite restriction applies to behind, a metaphorical derivative of the basic positional word (see 229. Metaphorical Prepositions). It seems to allow only adjectival uses (see 306. Ways of Giving a Reason, #3).
Of the other causal prepositions, with needs to start its sentence (along with a noun + participle) – always an adverb-like use:
(e) With its supplies exhausted, the group had to return to base.
For more about such sentences, see 88. Exotic Grammar Structures 1, #7.
As a result of seems able to make both adjective and adverb phrases; but the adjective-like use has a variation: after a link verb (BE, SEEM, LOOK, REMAIN etc.) in sentences like (c), it usually drops as, e.g. was a result of….
Down to mostly follows a link verb, as in sentence (c) – it does not easily make adverb phrases, or directly follow the noun it is describing. However, it does introduce an adverb phrase in the idiomatic expression put X down to Y, which means “believe X is caused by Y” (see 139. Phrasal Verbs, final paragraphs).
Out of and over seem typically to make adverb rather than adjective phrases, like owing to, but can be adjectival after an “action” noun, e.g. arguments over dates, disruption out of malice.
Even because of may be slightly restricted. Composing example (c) above – illustrating the use after verbs like BE – proved surprisingly difficult. In many potential examples, due to seemed more natural, or there was a temptation to use the conjunction because (+ verb) instead.
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DIFFERENCES OF MEANING
A major differentiator between the various causal prepositions may be the sort of cause or reason that the noun after them expresses. Because of, due to and owing to seem to allow the widest range of possibilities. We might say, indeed, that because of is all-purpose – always available to express a cause or reason.
Behind tends to suggest a cause or reason that is not visible or obvious. Quite often, it may suggest deliberate concealment of dubious behaviour.
The causal meaning of out of is, like that of behind, metaphorical. It seems particularly likely before causes within humans or animals, especially emotions. Thus, one might say that a person acts out of greed or love, but not *out of prosperity or *qualifications. Other common possibilities include anger, desire, hope, ignorance, pity and solidarity.
Over too is likely to introduce the cause of a human or animal action, but external and purpose-suggesting rather than internal. Thus, cats that fight out of a territorial instinct consequently fight over territory.
Through seems to suggest an immediate link between a cause and its result. In sentence (b) above (absence … because of sickness), it can easily replace because of, whereas in (d) (malaria … because of poverty) it cannot. I think the reason is that sickness in (b) is a direct cause of absence, but poverty in (d) is not an immediate cause of malaria – bites by mosquitoes are.
This suggestion of greater immediacy sometimes allows through to replace by. This is unlikely after passive verbs; but after active ones, where the meaning is “by means of” (see 73. Prepositions for Saying How), a choice is often possible. One can say, for example, that someone succeeded either by or through hard work. The difference here is perhaps again one of immediacy, but with through now showing a less immediate cause. Thus, through seems to be intermediate between by and because of, showing less immediacy than the former but more than the latter.
Regarding thanks to, many years ago, when I used to assess the academic writing of French-speaking students, I noticed that they used this expression more frequently than I was accustomed to seeing in English, and that in some cases because of seemed better. Knowing a little French myself, I quickly realised that thanks to was a direct translation of grâce à, which I guessed was more common in French than thanks to is in English. To help the students, therefore, I needed to work out exactly when thanks to is appropriate in English and when it is not.
It may be that thanks to is relatively literal (non-metaphorical) in English. In other words, the idea of gratitude, which is normally expressed by thanks, might still be quite strong in it. This means that it would normally need to be followed by a cause noun that deserved gratitude – expressing something desirable rather than the opposite. Here is a typical thanks to sentence:
(f) Thanks to everyone’s hard work, the road was soon clear.
This sentence does more than explain why the road became clear; it also conveys the speaker’s gratitude to, and even praise of, the workers.
Sometimes, however, thanks to is used slightly differently. When the result (not the cause!) is clearly unpleasant, it can imply criticism instead of thanks:
(g) Thanks to the policies of the Government, the economy is in a mess.
In the underlined result here, it would be hard to interpret the negative word a mess as something desirable or praiseworthy, and hence the cause cannot be receiving gratitude and will be understood instead as an object of criticism. The use of a normally positive word like thanks to express an opposite meaning is an example of that peculiar English habit of irony, similar to saying that a boring experience had been “wonderful” or an unpopular politician was “universally loved”.
Now here is a sentence from an academic context, where thanks to might be less appropriate because a neutral, non-emotive message is required:
(h) Cats fight less in the wild because of the greater size of their territory.
Using thanks to here would probably suggest that large-sized cat territory was a good thing (reduced cat-fighting being also good). Using because of (or owing to or on account of), on the other hand, gives no clue about the desirability or otherwise of large cat territories, but instead keeps attention focussed on the factuality of the sentence.
Courtesy of is similar to thanks to in expressing gratitude about a cause. However, it perhaps also suggests that the cause is a person who has consciously offered their help. An example might be:
(i) This road was built courtesy of a donation from the Mayor.
Finally, down to, besides being restricted in the grammatical ways mentioned above, is also restricted to informal contexts: it is more likely, for example, in speech than writing.
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