Learn English – the gramatically correct way to say “It can lead to does “

phrasal-verbsword-usage

I know "lead to" (or "result in") can be used in such ways like

  1. How severe maternal inflammation can lead to autism-like behavior

  2. Stress, anxiety, depression can lead to heart disease

  3. Can Secondhand Smoke Lead To Weight Gain?

(all from Google News headlines)

But if I want to say something like:

  1. due to the inflammation, a baby can develop1 an autism-like behavior

with "lead to", what is the grammatically correct way? Can I say:

  1. Inflammation can lead the baby developing an autism-like behavior

1 Not even sure if this is a correct verb to use with "behavior" in terms of collocation

Best Answer

You need to include the word to with the verb lead. Lead to is a phrasal verb that needs both words:

Inflammation can lead to the baby developing an autism-like behavior.

The verb developing is fine there. I would probably omit the indefinite article referring to behavior (although leaving it is is not ungrammatical):

Inflammation can lead to the baby developing autism-like behavior.

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