Due to Vs Because of

A. due to moisture exhaled by tourists, which raised its humidity to such levels so that salt from the stone was crystallizing
B. due to moisture that tourists had exhaled, thereby raising its humidity to such levels that salt from the stone would crystallize
C. because tourists were exhaling moisture, which had raised the humidity within then to levels such that salt from the stone would crystallize
D. because of moisture that was exhaled by tourists raising the humidity within them to levels so high as to make the salt from the stone crystallize
E. because moisture exhaled by tourists had raised the humidity within them to such levels that salt from the stone was crystallizing


A. may be caused by the interaction where two stars orbit each other
B. may be caused by the interaction between two stars that each orbit the other
C. are because of the interaction between two stars that orbit each other
D. are caused by the interaction of two stars where each is orbiting the other
E. are caused by the interaction of two stars orbiting each other - modifying stars

HI egmat,
Could you please come up with OA and your excellent explanation and analysis..?

I appreciate the article by E-gmat .

In late 1997, the chambers inside the pyramid of the Pharaoh Menkaure at Giza were closed to visitors for cleaning and repairing due to moisture exhaled by tourists, which raised its humidity to such levels so that salt from the stone was crystallizing and fungus was growing in the walls.

A. due to moisture exhaled by tourists, which raised its humidity to such levels so that salt from the stone was crystallizing
"Due to" only modifies NOUN, here it is action "Chambers were closed".
B. due to moisture that tourists had exhaled, thereby raising its humidity to such levels that salt from the stone would crystallize
"Due to" only modifies NOUN, here it is action "Chambers were closed".
C. because tourists were exhaling moisture, which had raised the humidity within them to levels such that salt from the stone would crystallize
Although it uses progressive past tense, it would have been correct unless "would" was used as "was. "Which" is used properly referring to moisture.Presence of two actions (1). Chambers were closed "A later event" (2). "Had raised humidity" a past event due to which chambers were closed.
D. because of moisture that was exhaled by tourists raising the humidity within them to levels so high as to make the salt from the stone crystallize
Verbing (Raising) without a "Comma" modifies a immediate noun(a concept by E-GMat only) Incorrect
E. because moisture exhaled by tourists had raised the humidity within them to such levels that salt from the stone was crystallizing
Correct Indeed !!!!



GMATPrep

It seems likely that a number of astronomical phenomena, such as the formation of planetary nebulas, may be caused by the interaction where two stars orbit each other at close range.

A. may be caused by the interaction where two stars orbit each other
B. may be caused by the interaction between two stars that each orbit the other
C. are because of the interaction between two stars that orbit each other
D. are caused by the interaction of two stars where each is orbiting the other
E. are caused by the interaction of two stars orbiting each other
Correct without any doubts !!!


Rgds.
saurabh

Hi Shradhha,
Any update on this ?

OA is E for both the qs. I think.

Please share your thoughts.Appreciate your reply.

Hi ,

Seems this can't be applied to the gmat prep question I have attached.

economy’s continued strength does act like a noun phrase , yet the correct answer has A as the answer.

Please help.

Regards,
Sach

Hi Sachin,

The basic difference between “due to” and “because of” is that “due to” is used as “caused by” and “because of” is used to present the reason of an action.

Since February, the Federal Reserve has raised its short-term interest rate target five times, and because of the economy’s continued strength, analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target will be raised again in November.

Per this sentence, analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target will be raised again in November. And what is the reason of this prediction? The reason of this prediction is economy’s continued strength. We need to present the reason for analysts’ prediction. Hence, usage of “because of” in choice A is correct.

If you go through the article well, you will see that both “due to” and “because of” are followed by noun entities. “Due to” refers only to a noun entity while “because of” presents reason.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

Hi Shraddha, great initiative and excellent posts. It helps me a lot. So a big thank you to your team.

Gmatclub Grammar book :

NOTE: The phrase "because of" can also be expressed with the phrase "due to".

It is confirmed that this statement is not applicable.

Hi EGMAT,

Please give explanation for

It seems likely that a number of astronomical phenomena, such as the formation of planetary nebulas, may be caused by the interaction where two stars orbit each other at close range.

A. may be caused by the interaction where two stars orbit each other
B. may be caused by the interaction between two stars that each orbit the other
C. are because of the interaction between two stars that orbit each other
D. are caused by the interaction of two stars where each is orbiting the other
E. are caused by the interaction of two stars orbiting each other

Also, please share few examples of caused by cases... does the noun immediately need to follow "due to" or there can be distance.

please share simple as well as complex examples to through some more light on this topic.

here is another method that I use
suppose you have a sentence structure, e.g., XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX because of/due to YYYYYYYYYYYYY
now, if XXXXXXXXXXX can stand as a clause (complete sentence) on itself then because of is the correct usage; otherwise, if XXXXXXXXXXX is just a noun phrase then due to is the correct usage.

My try:
In late 1997, the chambers inside the pyramid of the Pharaoh Menkaure at Giza were closed to visitors for cleaning and repairing due to moisture exhaled by tourists, which raised its humidity to such levels so that salt from the stone was crystallizing and fungus was growing in the walls.
A. due to moisture exhaled by tourists, which raised its humidity to such levels so that salt from the stone was crystallizing
B. due to moisture that tourists had exhaled, thereby raising its humidity to such levels that salt from the stone would crystallize
C. because tourists were exhaling moisture, which had raised the humidity within then to levels such that salt from the stone would crystallize
D. because of moisture that was exhaled by tourists raising the humidity within them to levels so high as to make the salt from the stone crystallize
E. because moisture exhaled by tourists had raised the humidity within them to such levels that salt from the stone was crystallizing

The way I understand it (cutting the flab...)
Chambers were closed for...(why?) BECAUSE high level of moisture had raised the humidity to a level that salt from the stone was crystallizing and fungus was growing in the walls.

EA:
1) Chambers were closed DUE TO... (were closed clause in the non underlined section...) DUE TO is wrong... has to be replaced by BECAUSE OF...
2) due to (-> BECAUSE OF) is followed by moisture {exhausted by... modifier} NOT logical. It must be followed by the reason why the chambers were closed... because "high levels of humidity..... that salt from the stone was crystallizing and fungus was growing in the walls"
3) Right choice must contain "crystallizing" In the clause "that salt from the stone was crystallizing and fungus was growing in the walls" to maintain the parallelism.

POE:
1)DUE TO scan: A and B are gone
2) Because of must be followed by the reason: C is gone
3) crystallizing/crystallize: Except A and E all violate this -> D is also gone

E is the correct answer.

GMATPrep

It seems likely that a number of astronomical phenomena, such as the formation of planetary nebulas, may be caused by the interaction where two stars orbit each other at close range.

A. may be caused by the interaction where two stars orbit each other
B. may be caused by the interaction between two stars that each orbit the other
C. are because of the interaction between two stars that orbit each other
D. are caused by the interaction of two stars where each is orbiting the other
E. are caused by the interaction of two stars orbiting each other

The way I understand it (cutting the flab...)
- It seems likely
- that a number of astronomical phenomena, {such as the formation AP}, are caused by the interaction in which two stars orbit each other at close range.

EA:
A possibility has been presented.
Lets take an example:
It is likely that something is true.
It is likely that something may be true.
In the above two sentences, second is wrong. Why? Because use of "may be" with likely already being said for the same purpose is redundant.

So, 1) may be MUST get replaced by ARE

2) 'may be caused by' is supposed to and is modifying "astronomical phenomena". So "Because of" cannot be used in its pace..."because of" might come in...(in that case following phrase has to be modifies accordingly)

3) Where can only refer to a physical place (country, place, city etc.) not to a situation
So, IN WHICH must be used

POE:
1) LIKELY (non-underlined)/MAY BE: A and B are gone
2) use of "because of": C is gone
3) use of "where": A and D are gone (A twice )

Left with E !
I am not going for seeing meaning of those answers I have already marked wrong!

Happy to be get corrected on my misunderstanding!

thanks for the great explanation

OG12#6

In late 1997, the chambers inside the pyramid of the Pharaoh Menkaure at Giza were closed to visitors for cleaning and repairing due to moisture exhaled by tourists, which raised its humidity to such levels so that salt from the stone was crystallizing and fungus was growing in the walls.

A. due to moisture exhaled by tourists, which raised its humidity to such levels so that salt from the stone was crystallizing
B. due to moisture that tourists had exhaled, thereby raising its humidity to such levels that salt from the stone would crystallize
C. because tourists were exhaling moisture, which had raised the humidity within then to levels such that salt from the stone would crystallize
D. because of moisture that was exhaled by tourists raising the humidity within them to levels so high as to make the salt from the stone crystallize
E. because moisture exhaled by tourists had raised the humidity within them to such levels that salt from the stone was crystallizing


e-GMAT experts! you guys are awesome. Thanks for such nice article. I have always been confused how to choose between "due to" and "because of", but after reading this article I am confident that I am in a better position to answer the questions related to this concept.

Now coming to my question: As explained in posts above "choice E" is the best answer. However, use of "them" in this sentence always perplexes me. I think "them" is ambiguous here as it can refer to both tourists and chambers. I know as per context of sentence only chambers make sense, however, I am not certain whether such use is permitted in GMAT.....

Consider the option,
E. because moisture exhaled by tourists had raised the humidity within them to such levels that salt from the stone was crystallizing

In the above clause, moisture is the subject, and exhaled is a verb-ed modifier (not a verb). The actual verb corresponding to the subject is had raised.

'exhaled by tourists' is a verbal modifier, modifying the subject 'moisture'.

So, what had raised the humidity within the chambers? Moisture.

Subject and verb pair are perfectly agreeing with each other and also with the main clause.

The sentence can be re-written as follows (striking out the modifiers, prepositional phrases etc) just to see the subject-verb agreement and pronoun agreement.

In late 1997,the chambers inside the pyramid of the Pharaoh Menkaure at Giza were closed to visitors for cleaning and repairing because moisture exhaled by tourists had raised the humidity within them to such levels that salt from the stone was crystallizing and fungus was growing in the walls.

As you see, 'them' has a clear antecedent - 'chambers'

Hey SivaSandeep, thanks for nice and detailed explanation. So, if I am understanding it correctly, a pronoun - in main clause - can't refer to a noun subject in a modifier...

A pronoun in the main clause having its antecedent (the subject/noun) in a modifier may not be possible. (but other way round can be possible)

More notes on this:

A modifier can contain a subject - but that will be different from the subject of the main independent clause.

For ex: The pen that is red, belongs to me
Subject of main clause + adjectival clause + main verb + object

Consider this ex.

Its surface temperatures estimated at minus 230 degrees Fahrenheit, Jupiter's moon Europa has long been considered far too cold to support life

The italicized part is an absolute phrase modifying (the entire phrase is modifying) Europa. Its is the possessive pronoun referring to Europa. So, we do have a pronoun in the modifier, which refers to a noun/subject in the main clause.

Hey SivaSandeep, thanks for nice and detailed explanation. So, if I am understanding it correctly, a pronoun - in main clause - can't refer to a noun subject in a modifier...[/quote]

A modifier will not contain a subject.[/quote]

Yeah, that's true. Thanks for clarifying. But Can a pronoun - in main clause - refer to a any noun in a modifier? It will be of great help if you can site one or two examples..

Hey,
small mistake from my end. A modifier can contain a subject - but that will be different from the subject of the main independent clause.

For ex: The pen that is red, belongs to me
Subject of main clause + adjectival clause + main verb + object

corrected the same in my explanation above.

Consider this ex.

Its surface temperatures estimated at minus 230 degrees Fahrenheit, Jupiter's moon Europa has long been considered far too cold to support life

The italicized part is an absolute phrase modifying (the entire phrase is modifying) Europa. Its is the possessive pronoun referring to Europa. So, we do have a pronoun in the modifier, which refers to a noun/subject in the main clause.

The other way round, a pronoun in the main clause having its antecedent (the subject/noun) in a modifier may not be possible.