How to use "(Be) due (to)" - English Grammar

You're in London, you're waiting for your bus, and you see this :

"Due", what the hell is "due?"

Really "due" (/ʤu:/), or "due" (/dju:/), you can pronounce it both ways,

it just means it's expected.

So, he could just say " the bus number 31 is..."

expected now, so it's coming now"

But there are other ways of using "due" :

So, how do we use "due to"?

This is a much more formal way to say something's expected at this time,

so, usually, for scheduled things, for example with transport :

So for example, my flight is due to arrive at 7,

my train is due to leave or depart at 3,

it's due to depart in thirty minutes.

So, that "due to" just means it's expected to do something,

do something at a scheduled time.

Not just transport, another example :

You could, but again, it's very formal, so you probably wouldn't say "the show is due to begin in 10 minutes"

You could say that, but it's very formal, so probably, you should just say "the show is going to start in 10 minutes"

A more common way of using "due" for an expected time is this :

If you're pregnant,

you might want to say :

"the baby is going to come in 4 months",

you could say "I'm due in 4 months",

like "I'm expected to... give birth".

So, does it only mean it's expected to happen at a certain time?

No! There's another meaning!

Let's imagine it's tennis season and today is a big big day, it's the final,

but, there's too much rain,

and you can't play.

So, they have to cancel the match.

You could say "it's cancelled because of the weather",

"because of the rain"

but you could also say "due to".

So, could be : "it's cancelled due to the weather",

"due to the rain".

So, "due to", another meaning is "because of".

But again, it's a much more formal way of saying "because of",

you wouldn't say, for example,

"I can't meet you today due to the weather".

Your friend will think you're crazy.

You'd say : "I can't meet you because of the weather, because of the rubbish rain that's always happening in London.."

So, again, more formal way of saying "because of" : "due to".

More formal way of saying "something's expected at a certain time", for example, transport, baby, you could say : "due to happen at a certain time"

So, you want to give someone a formal reason for something :

for example, if you lose your job, your boss might explain you the situation using "due to", for example :

for example, if you lose your job because your breath is... really awful,

your boss might say "we had to fire you because of, due to your bad breath".

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If there's an expression in English that you don't understand how to use, let us know in the comments!

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Non-automatic English subtitles by Julie Descaves