[Grammar] due to I'm currently studying it

[suprunp]

I would like to get some Russian practice due to I'm currently studying it in my university.

I saw this sentence on one web-site written by a person claiming to be a native speaker.

I, for one, would say "...due to my currently studying it...",
but is the original sentence correct?

Thanks.

 

[Barb_D]

Don't use "due to" at all here. Just say "... because I'm currently studying it."

 

[suprunp]

Don't use "due to" at all here. Just say "... because I'm currently studying it."

I'm aware that some speakers believe that it is not correct to use due to in this way (Collins Cobuild Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary.), but if it is already used what should follow it?

Thanks.

 

[Barb_D]

I find the whole original thing a mess. However, if you really want to try to fix it, then a noun should follow "due to" -- due to my current studies of the subject. Trying to make it a gerund with "my currently studying" just makes it worse.

 

[suprunp]

a noun should follow "due to" [...]
Trying to make it a gerund with "my currently studying" just makes it worse.

Isn't a gerund a noun formed from a verb?

Thanks.

 

[bhaisahab]

The only way it could work with "due to" and "currently studying it" is if you wrote "...due to the fact that I am currently studying it".
"in my university" doesn't ring true as something a native speaker would write in that sentence either.

 

[suprunp]

One small additional question.

Is it possible (at least theoretically) to say "due to my current[STRIKE]ly[/STRIKE] studying"?

Thanks.

 

[5jj]

Is it possible (at least theoretically) to say "due to my current[STRIKE]ly[/STRIKE] studying"?

Theoretically it is possible to say almost anything in English. It did not take people long to come up with contexts in which Chomsky's "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously" conveyed meaning.

So, the answer to your question, for what it's worth, is, "Yes",

 

[BobK]

I find the whole original thing a mess. However, if you really want to try to fix it, then a noun should follow "due to" -- due to my current studies of the subject. Trying to make it a gerund with "my currently studying" just makes it worse.

That gerund is just about acceptable (but very formal-sounding) in Br Eng; a (non-verbal) noun would be possible - but still sounds rather formal/archaic: '... due to my current studies...'. But I agree with your first post - it's best to avoid 'due to' altogether here.

b

 

[TheParser]

I would like to get some Russian practice due to I'm currently studying it in my university.

NOT A TEACHER


(1) May I just add my two cents' worth?

(2) Please remember that some so-called "purists" (whom I idolize) feel that "due" is

an adjective.

(3) Teacher 5jj told us that (in theory) you could use "studying."

(a) Therefore, maybe a "correct" sentence would be:

My wish to get in some Russian practice is due to my currently studying that language.

("to my currently studying that language" is a prepositional phrase modifying the ADJECTIVE "due.")

Of course, one would hardly speak/write such a sentence.

Nowadays, people say: "I was late to work due to traffic conditions." Purists demand: "I was late to work because of traffic conditions" or "My late arrival to work was due to traffic conditions."

P.S. I hope that you become a purist, too. They are fast disappearing.