4 · Expressions (level 4)
Owing to: yóuyú
the cause in a measured, written tone
Yóuyú gives a cause in a measured, written tone — at the front of the sentence, often with yīncǐ after it.
由于 means “owing to, because of, due to”. It is the written and formal partner of 因为, the word of announcements, news, reports and essays: 由于天气原因，航班推迟了, “owing to the weather, the flight has been delayed”.
由于 takes a noun phrase or a whole clause, and it stands in the first half of the sentence. The second half may begin with 所以 or — more typical of writing — 因此: 由于…，因此…. Here lies the real grammatical difference from 因为: a 因为 clause can follow the result, the way English “because” does (…，因为…); a 由于 clause normally cannot.
To give the cause after all, written Chinese turns it into a predicate with 是由于, often closed by 造成的 or 引起的: 这次事故是由于司机太累造成的, “this accident was caused by the driver being too tired”.
English speakers make two mistakes with it: they use it in casual talk, where it sounds as stiff as “owing to” over a cup of tea, and they put it after the result, as they would put “because”. In conversation 因为 is the word.
The form
| the cause first | 由于大雨，… |
| with yīncǐ | 由于…，因此… |
| a clause as the cause | 由于路上堵车，他迟到了。 |
| the cause last: shì yóuyú | …是由于…造成的。 |
| the spoken equivalent | 因为下大雨，所以… |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
Yóuyú stands in the first half of the sentence, before the result.
由于身体原因，他没有参加比赛。For health reasons, he did not take part in the competition.
The second half may begin with yīncǐ or suǒyǐ.
由于准备得很充分，因此会议进行得很顺利。Because it had been thoroughly prepared, the meeting went smoothly.
To give the cause at the end, say shì yóuyú, often with zàochéng de.
这次停电是由于大风造成的。This power cut was caused by the strong wind.
In conversation, yīnwèi is the normal word; yóuyú sounds like an announcement.
因为太累了，我今天不想出门。I am too tired — I do not want to go out today.
A closer look
Yóuyú and yóu
由于 contains 由, “from”, and the single character has a life of its own in formal Chinese. 由 + person names who is responsible for something: 这件事由我负责, “I am in charge of this”. That is not a cause at all, and a learner should not read 由 as a shortened 由于.
A third relative is 由此, “from this”, in the written phrase 由此可见, “from this it can be seen that …” — the sentence that draws the conclusion from what has just been said.
How to spot it
- 由于
- 由于…因此
- 是由于…的
Example sentences
由于天气原因，今天的航班全部取消。Owing to the weather, all of today’s flights are cancelled.
由于时间关系，今天就讲到这里。Because of the time, we will stop here for today.
由于价格太高，这种手机卖得不好。Because the price is too high, this phone is not selling well.
由于他工作认真，因此很快就升职了。Because he worked conscientiously, he was soon promoted.
这场火是由于电线老化引起的。This fire was caused by old wiring.
由于缺少资金，这个项目暂停了。Owing to a lack of funds, the project has been put on hold.
8 more example sentences
由于路上堵车，我们晚到了二十分钟。Owing to traffic on the way, we arrived twenty minutes late.
由于人数不够，活动改到下周举行。Because there were not enough people, the event was moved to next week.
由于长期缺乏运动，他的身体越来越差。Owing to a long-term lack of exercise, his health is getting worse and worse.
比赛推迟是由于场地积水。The match was postponed because the pitch was waterlogged.
由于大家的支持，我们的小店才能开到今天。Thanks to everyone’s support, our little shop has been able to stay open to this day.
由于这里交通方便，所以房价比较高。Because transport here is convenient, house prices are fairly high.
由于系统维护，网站今晚暂停服务。Owing to system maintenance, the website will be unavailable tonight.
他这次失败主要是由于准备不足。His failure this time was mainly due to insufficient preparation.
Worth knowing (1)
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Yóuyú … yuányīn
Formal Chinese likes to wrap a cause in 由于…原因, “for … reasons”, which is a polite way of not going into detail: 由于个人原因, for personal reasons; 由于技术原因, for technical reasons.
由于个人原因，他辞职了。He resigned for personal reasons.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
因为 can follow the result, the way “because” does in English; 由于 belongs in the first half. And in a sentence like this one, about your own day, 因为 is the natural word anyway.
Yóuyú goes first and sounds written; yīnwèi can go either side and sounds spoken.
Your turn
8 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.