Welcome to Grammar & Style Tidbits with Snap Language.
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[♫ Snap Language Theme song ♫] Hi, Marc Franco here.
What’s up with “due to the fact that” and “the reason why?”
Let’s talk about “due to the fact that” first
as in “He went to bed early due to the fact that he had an exam the next day.”
Is there anything wrong with this sentence?
It has a subject and a verb, the verb tenses are fine,
and the sentence makes sense.
Well, the grammar is fine here. The issue is with style.
Let’s discuss this. But first...
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All right! Let’s see what the style issue is with this sentence.
Especially in formal, written English,
you want to avoid certain phrases and constructions
simply because they’re wordy.
You can rephrase this sentence simply as
“He went to be early because he had an exam the next day.”
But, but... aren’t things supposed to sound really complicated in writing?
Um... many people think that,
and I'm not sure where that comes from.
Perhaps people think formal writing must be complicated
because we use informal language most of the time,
and formal, written language seems to be a bit more structured.
We’re not used to it as much, so it sounds more complex.
But complex does not mean complicated by design.
We see unusual words and expressions in writing, so we may wrongly conclude
that we need to use strange vocabulary when we write...
or even when we speak in formal settings.
For example, we don’t usually use expressions like “due to”
in spoken language.
So, it sounds more formal and appropriate in writing
to say something like “He went to bed early due to the exam.”
But we want to say he had an exam...
No problem... say “due to the fact that he had an exam.”
Again, nothing wrong with it... grammatically...
except that you’re making the sentence more complicated than it needs to be.
You can simply use “because.”
Why use five words where one does the job?
So... should you stop using “due to” then?
No. You can still use it.
Just don’t go overboard and use “due to the fact that”
when “because” does the job just fine.
For example, you can say
“They canceled the game due to bad weather.”
“Crops may fail due to the severe drought.”
If you want to get a little fancier, you can even say,
“They canceled the game as a result of bad weather.”
“Crops may fail as a result of the severe drought.”
But “due to the fact that...”
or “as a result of the fact that...”
Well, that’s just a bit much.
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Let’s talk about yet another wordy construction.
“The reason people stopped
buying this product is because it became unaffordable.”
Again, it’s a matter of style because, grammatically, it is a good sentence.
Can you tell what the issue is?
Hmm...
Let’s break it down and see if we can improve the style here.
The structure here is “THE REASON... ... IS BECAUSE...”
Do you see how you’re repeating the ideas of “reason” and “reason” here?
It’s like saying “the reason” is “the reason.”
It’s just repetitive...
it’s redundant and, as a matter of style, you should try to keep things concise.
One way to improve this is to get rid of “because.”
“The reason people stopped buying this product is
that it became unaffordable.”
See? No more redundancy,
so the structure is “The reason (for something)... is this...”
“The reason why” is a related style issue.
Many people, even good writers, write or say,
“The reason why people voted for Senator Ecks is that
he had good policies.”
Again, “the reason” carries the same information as “why,”
so you can just lose “why,”
and the sentence still makes sense:
“The reason people voted for Senator Ecks is that...” and so forth.
So, if you have to choose between being redundant
and being concise and still getting the message across,
go with being concise!
You can also get rid of “the reason” altogether and rephrase this as
“People voted for Senator Ecks because he had good policies.”
Well, but sometimes you just want to start your sentence with “the reason.”
Whatever you start a sentence with in English tends to become
the focus of the sentence.
It’s up to you, the writer, to choose how to arrange your ideas
because you want to communicate them clearly,
not just to, um, “impress” the reader.
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I think these style issues come from combining ideas into a single sentence.
The language gives you myriad choices to express an idea differently.
“The reason many people learn English is to get a better job.”
“Being able to get a better job is the reason many people learn English”
“Many people learn English because it helps them get a better job.”
“Many people learn English so that they can get a better job.”
“Many people learn English due to better job opportunities.”
[chuckles] (Many people learn English because reasons.)
It’s when you mix and match these that you end up with something like,
“The reason why many people learn English
is because they can get a better job.”
or... “... due to the fact that...
As a matter of style, you can choose one of the simpler constructions.
When you start complicating things with redundancies, you end up with
these Frankenstein sentences.
And what happens if you do?
Will the villagers come after you with torches and pitchforks?
Well, I hope not, but unfortunately there are many people out there
who will judge you not for your ideas but for your style,
or how you communicate your ideas.
Now, if you’re writing an essay for college, for example, there are some expectations
around grammar and style.
But now you know...
Don’t complicate things.
Write to communicate clearly, not to impress the reader.
Avoid redundancies.
Being concise helps your readers understand your ideas.
When you revise your work, pay attention to things like
“due to the fact that,” or “the reason why.”
Revise those sentences so they’re more straightforward.
It may not sound as “fancy,” but you’ll have
a better style in the end.
If you have any questions related to grammar and style,
let me know in the comments.
I might even make a video about it.
If you’re a already member of the channel, we can start a conversation about it.
Thank you!
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