Could I say 'for a traffic jam' to indicate ' due to a traffic jam' or 'because of a traffic jam'? #1 Don't tell me that you were late due to a traffic jam. #2 Don't tell me that you were late because

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Sanya

Could I say 'for a traffic jam' to indicate ' due to a traffic jam' or 'because of a traffic jam'? #1 Don't tell me that you were late due to a traffic jam. #2 Don't tell me that you were late because of a traffic jam. #3 Don't tell me that you were late for a traffic jam. One of the usage of 'for' is to mean 'because of ', 'as a result of'. Could I say 'for a traffic jam' to indicate ' due to a traffic jam' or 'because of a traffic jam'? Thank you.

Mar 23, 2014 12:31 PM

Answers · 13

No you can't. "Don't tell me that you were late for a traffic jam" is not correct.

March 23, 2014

According to the "old" rules, only one is correct: "I was late BECAUSE OF a traffic jam". ("because of" = preposition) But in 2014, almost all Americans now accept "I was late DUE TO a traffic jam." (If you want to follow the old rules, then "due" (an adjective) is used like this:" My lateness was DUE to a traffic jam.")

March 23, 2014