The words “because of” are a compound preposition. Prepositions are designed to be followed by only a noun —- “because of the rain“, “because of the parade“, “because of the child’s temper tantrum“, etc. The object of this or any preposition can be a gerund or gerund phrase —- “because of waiting for the senator“, “because of limited parking“,Books in European libraries last longer than books in libraries in the United States
because, although the climate in Europe
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because, although the climate in Europe
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