because of

Expression

Expression because of

1. You use because of to show the reason for something.
   • Synonym: due to

   There's no class because of the holiday.

   We couldn't leave the island because of the bad weather.

Usage

1. The preposition because can be followed by a clause (e.g., because it was good), while the expression because of should be followed by a noun phrase (e.g., because of the weather).
2. It is important to watch out for the ambiguity when because of is used in a negative sentence, as in The case was not brought before the committee because of the incident the night before. This can be read either as a reason (the incident happened and so the case was not brought), or a denial of a reason (the incident happened, but this is not why the case was brought).

Related words

• because
• of