lead to sth
phr. v..phr. v.. To cause something to happen or have a particular result. You use it to connect an action or event with its outcome.
phr. v.. To cause a particular action or event to happen, or to have a specific result. It functions as a transitive phrasal verb linking a cause with its effect.
Hard work leads to success.
Eating too much junk food often leads to health problems later in life.
The investigation revealed that a series of minor procedural errors, when combined, led to the catastrophic system failure.
- Particles
- to
- Separability
- inseparable
- Pattern
- lead + to + object
This phrase is often used to describe the consequences or results of an action or event.
Contrast 'lead to' (cause a result) with 'result in' (more formal) and 'cause' (more direct, less of a process).
The rain lead flooding.The rain led to flooding.The particle 'to' is essential to connect the cause with the resulting event or state.