why is this sentence inccorect?

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hongwang9703
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Topic: why is this sentence inccorect?
PostSun Oct 25, 2009 7:17 pm
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THe game was postponed due to rain - INC
the game was postponed on account of rain - C
the game's postponment was due to rain -C

i understand that "due to" is the same as "caused by"
, i mean i hear people say the first option all the time!
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PostMon Oct 26, 2009 5:44 am
"due to" is an idiom, and it's use colloquially like in the INC sentence, is technically a correct use of the word. From a grammatical view, because the verb in the first sentence is "was postponed" I guess it is not as clear as in the last sentence, where they transformed "postponed" into the subject noun and use the complete "was due to" idiom. Short answer is, I am not sure why they label the first one as incomplete. Perhaps an English major can chime in for us.
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PostTue Dec 22, 2009 12:53 am
Hi

"technically" you use "due to" only with the following pattern NOUN + VERB TO BE + DUE TO. Some grammarians argue that due to is a adjectival prepositional phrase, thus it should always modify a noun.

My opinion is that until you see an official problem in which GMAT says due to is only used in the above way, don't worry about it. Here you have a sentence from GMAT prep that uses "due to" in the "wrongly" way, so I guess GMAT does not care about this issue.

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PostSun Jan 24, 2010 1:02 am
does this have anything to do with the GMAT preferring the active voice?
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PostThu Feb 11, 2010 4:06 pm
Everyone should prefer the active voice, it's significantly stronger Smile

<3, an English major.
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PostThu Feb 11, 2010 7:11 pm
I see, did you get this question from the free study cards on this site?

Due to does not mean “on the account of” or “because of”. “Due to” means “caused by”. I know you’re not a native English speaker, but does it sound right to say that “the game was postponed caused by rain”? It does sound correct to say however, “The game’s postponement was cause by rain”.

In other words, you can’t say I caused the “verb” (insert whatever…run…jump…hop). However, you can cause a noun to do (verb) something...(I caused Ralph (n) to throwup (v)….I caused the plane (n) to crash (v)…I caused the phone (n) to fall(v)).

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hongwang9703
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PostSun Feb 28, 2010 7:45 pm
Thank you for your replies.
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