grammaticality - Because vs. due to with adjectives?


I know that because of modifies verbs, whereas due to modifies nouns.
However, what do I do if I see something like:



We find that X is better than Y in most cases, due to lack of support for Y.



Here, it seems like due to is modifying better, an adjective (I think). Is due to acceptable, or is it correct to use because in such cases?



Answer



Long ago, the principle used to be that due to is adjectival, and owing to is adverbial.


In OP's example, "due to" adverbially modifies "We find", so strictly speaking (long ago) it wouldn't have been acceptable. OP would have to rephrase along the lines of...



Our conclusion that X is better than Y in most cases is due to lack of support for Y.



...which "correctly" makes a noun (our conclusion) the object of due to.


By the same principle, some might say because of is also adverbial, and that you should say "I am weak because of hunger", rather than "My weakness is because of hunger". I'm not one of those.


In practice due to, owing to, and because of are now used interchangeably. Only a few die-hard pedants maintain that adjectival/adverbial distinction today.


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