because of,due to ,thanks to ,owing to ,as a result of ,on account of 等都可以用来表示原因,但其用法却各有不同.下面就其用法分述如下：

1． because of意为“因为,由于”,普通用语,比其他短语更口语化；构成的短语在句子中通常作状语,一般不作表语用；后面可接名词、代词、分词或what引导的名词性从句等.
Eg. Sampras is likely to miss the US Open because of his back injury.桑普拉斯因为背部有伤可能缺席美国公开赛.（置于句后作状语）
Because of my bad leg ,I couldn’t walk so fast as the others.由于我的腿坏了,我不能像其他人走得那么快.（置于句首做状语,但用逗号与其他部分分开）
Because of his wife’s being there,I said nothing about it.因为他妻子在场,我对此事只字未提.(接-ing分词短语)
He realized that she was crying because of what he had said.他意识到她在哭是因为他说的那些话.(接what从句)

2.due to“由于,因…造成”,引导的短语在句中除可作状语（此时不用于句首）外,也可作表语或定语.有些讲英语的人仅将 due to 用于动词be之后作表语,但目前普遍认为可将due to看作是owing to的同义词.
Eg.Your failure is due to negligence.你的失败是由于疏忽所造成的.
A part of the energy is wasted in machines due to friction.
一部分能量由于摩擦而消耗在机器内.
That Shelley became a poet may have been due to his mother’s influence.雪莱成为诗人可能是由于受母亲的影响.
Accidents due to driving at high speed were very common that weekend.在那个周末因高速驾驶造成的交通事故很多.
Joe’s application to the University was not accepted due to his failing English.乔因英语不及格申报那所大学没被录取.
注意：due to除可表示原因外,还有“应给于,应属于”的意思.
Eg. Our grateful thanks are due to you.向你表示我们衷心的感谢

3.on account of当“因为”讲,后面常接名词.
Eg.We delayed our departure on account of the bad weather.由于天气不好,我们将起程时间推迟了. 
I’m thinking of going down to Qingdao for a fortnight ,on account of my health.由于身体方面的原因,我正考虑到青岛休养两个月.
注意：On my/your accoun 为了你（我）（的缘故）
On this/that account由于这个（那个）缘故
Eg. She thinks you’re leaving Aunt Ketty on her account.她以为你是为了她才打算离开凯蒂阿姨的.
On this account, we should be cautious.因为这个缘故我们应该谨慎.
He is angry on that account.由于那个缘故他生气了.

4.owing to引出的介词短语,在句中作状语或表语,做状语时,习惯上用逗号和句子其他部分分开.
Eg. They decided to pospone the trip, owing to bad weather.由于天气不好他们决定推迟旅行.
Owing to his careless driving, we had a bad accident.由于他驾驶疏忽,我们发生了次大车祸.
（Cf: The accident was due to his careless driving.这次车祸是由于他的驾驶疏忽.）

5.thanks to “由于或因为某人（某事）”,通常用于好的方面,译为“多亏”,但有时作反语；引导的介词短语可置于句首或句末.
Eg.The play succeeded thanks to fine acting by all the cast.由于全体演员的出色表演,那出戏才成功.
It was thanks to his carelessness that we lost the game.由于他的疏忽大意我们输掉了这场比赛.
Thanks to your help, we were successful.多亏了你的帮助,我们得以成功. 
Thanks to the bad weather ,the match had been cancelled.多亏这个倒霉天气,挺好的比赛取消了.（反语）
注意：Small thanks to 一点也不感激
Eg. We were successful ,but small thanks to you.我们成功了,但一点也不感激你.

6.as a result “因此,结果”,常用在有上下文（表原因）的情况下.
as a result of…“由于…的结果”,可置于句首或句末.
Eg.He had some bad fish.As a result,he didn’t feel well this morning.他吃了些变质的鱼,因此,今天早上感觉到不舒服.
As a result of the flood,thousands of people lost their homes.因为发大水,成千上万的人失去了家园.

Exercise:

用because of, due to , owing to , thanks to , as a result (of), on account of 填空：
1 I was well again, ______ the doctor.
2. Jobs are hard to get and, ______, more young people want to continue their education.
3. Over 60 drugs have been removed from sale ______ recent test.
4. ______ his youth, he was not allowed to take the senior course.
5. That was ______ the lack of exercise.
6. The failure of the plan was in part _____ financial difficulties
7. Mistakes ______ carelessness may have serious consequence. 
8. The wages ______ him will be paid tomorrow.
9. _______ problems with the fuel system, the launch has been put back a week.
10. She won the Peace Prize _____ her courageous fight for democracy.

参考答案:

1.thanks to 2. as a result 3. as a result of 4.On account of/Because of/Owing to 5. on account of/because of/due to/owing to 6. due to/because of/on account of/owing to 7. due to 8. due to 9. Because of/Owing to/Thanks to 10. because of/on account of