关于due to 能不能放在句首的问题

原文链接http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_7689fa610100qqe7.html

一. due to的通常用法

due to 用法1

表示“到期的”、“应付(给)的”、“到期应付的”，通常只用作表语。如：

The bill is due.这张票据已到期。

My salary is due tomorrow.我明天领薪。

表示应付给或应给予某人，通常与介词to连用。如：

A great deal of money is due to you.要付给你一大笔钱。

Respect is due to older people.年长者应受到尊重。

Our grateful thanks are due to you.我们衷心感谢你。

due to 用法2

表示“预定的”、“约定的”、“预定要到达或发生的”，也通常用作表语。如：

When is the train due?火车什么时候到?

I’m due for a pay rise soon.我不久就要加薪了。

其后可接不定式。如(from
www.yywords.com)：

The guests are due to arrive very soon.客人很快就会到。

The meeting isn’t due to start until four.会议预定要到四点才召开。

due to 用法3

表示“适当的”、“合适的”、“应得的”，通常只放在名词前作定语。如：

We should pay due attention to this problem.我们应对这个问题给予适当的注意。

You must put these things in due order.你必须把这些东西按适当的顺序放好。

due to 用法4

用于due
to(由于，因为)。按照传统语法due
to主要引导表语，一般不引导状语。如：

His absence was due to the storm.他因暴风雨而缺席。

Her success was due to her hard work.她成功是因为她努力工作。

但是在现代英语中，due
to也可用来引导状语。如(from
www.yywords.com)：

He was late due to the very heavy traffic.由于交通拥挤他迟到了。

注意点一：

在标准英语里，due to只能用以引导形容词短语，不可引导副词短语。例如：

　　Our delay was due to heavy traffic．

　　Mistakes due to carelessness may have serious consequences．

　　在第一例中，due to引导的短语在句中作表语，用在 verb“to be”之后；在第二例中，due to引导的短语作定语，修饰前面的主语mistakes.主张语言纯正者（purists）认为，due to不能引导副词短语，因此，下列句中的 due to应改为 owing to或 because of：

　　Due to ill health，he could not attend the meeting

　　由于健康不佳，他不能参加会议。

注意点二：

事实上，在现代英语中，due to也经常用以引导副词短语，且可以放在句首。下面数句均摘自英美刊物： 

　　Due to the weather，the flight was cancelled． 

　　He failed due to carelessness． 

　　The population of Pennsylvania increased from 50，000 in 1730 to more than 200，000 in 1763，due in large part to the thousands of Scotch－Irish． 

　　…in America，where women began to predominate from pioneer times，due to their scarcity and greater demands． 

注意点三：

　Owing to如同 because of或 on account of一样，是个介词，只能引导副词短语。例： 

　　Owing to the rain，they could not come． 
　　由于下雨，他们不能来了。 

　　Owing to a traffic hold-up，I missed my flight． 
　　由于交通堵塞，我赶不上航班。 

　　The project fell through because of poor planning． 
　　工程告吹是因为缺乏周详策划。 

　　The university faced a cost overrun on account of miscalculation． 
　　大学经费超支是因为预计错误。 

（转载请注明出自英语翻译研究工作室）