Page 183 - Practical English Usage 3ed - Michael Swan, Oxford

165 drown
Both active and passive forms of drown are common when we talk about accidental drowning.
He (was) drowned while trying to swim across a river.
166 due to and owing to
Due to and owing to are similar to 'because of. Due to is more common than owing to.
Phrases beginning due/owing to are often separated from the rest of their sentence by a comma.
Due/Owing to the bad weather(,) the match was cancelled.
We have had to postpone the meeting(.) due/owing to the strike.
Some people believe it is incorrect to use due to at the beginning of a clause in this way, but the structure is common in educated usage.
Due to can also follow the verb be. Owing to is not usually used like this.
His success was due to his mother. (NOT .•. W ft3 owing to his mother.)
167 during and for
During is used to say when something happens; for is used to say how long it lasts. Compare:
- My father was in hospital during the summer.
My father was ill hospital for six weeks. (NOT ••• th:tFt,'tlf si:x weeks.)
- It rained during the nightfor two or three hours.
I'll call in and see you for a few minutes during the afternoon.
For during and ill, see 168.
For for, since, in and from, see 208.
168 during and in
We use both during and in to say that something happens inside a particular period of time.
We'll be on holiday during/in August. I woke up during/in the night. We use during to stress that we are talking about the whole of the period.
The shop's closed during the whole ofAugust. (NOT ••• in the whole of' At/gmt.)
And we use during when we are talking about an event, activity or experience (not a period of time).
He had some strange experiences during his military service. (NOT ••• in ."'is milittlty seFlliee.)
I'll try to phone you during the meeting. (NOT ••• in the meeting.) I met them during my stay in China.
during and in 168
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