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So, as the title says, what's the difference between "lead in" and "lead to", as can be seen in this example taken from the novel The Name of The Rose:

"Thus it happened that we turned westward... almost following the line of mountains that from Pisa leads in the direction of the pilgrim's way to Santiago..."

Thank you for the help.

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    You are linking the words incorrectly. The line of mountains leads in a certain direction. The pilgrims' way leads to Santiago.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Apr 4, 2020 at 19:06

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This use of "lead" is followed by a direction/path, which could be a variety of prepositional phrases:

  • All roads lead to Rome.
  • All roads lead from Rome.
  • All roads lead in that direction.
  • All roads lead over the hills.

etc.

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The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco was translated by a great translator. It is old fashioned on purpose.

  • In modern English, the from Pisa would be move: almost following the line of mountains that leads from Pisa in the direction of the pilgrim's way to Santiago.

|in the direction of the pilgrim's way] is one phrase inserted between lead and to. X leads to Y.

One thing leads to another.

So, there is lead from Pisa [even though from Pisa precedes lead]....to
And an interspersed phrase: in the direction of the pilgrim's way

There is no lead in and lead to. There is lead to + in the direction of the pilgrim's way.

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  • The road from Albany leads in the direction of New York, but veers west before it arrives.
    – David Siegel
    Commented Nov 2, 2021 at 23:08
  • @DavidSiegel Yes, but that is not "lead in". It's leads |in the direction of New York| where "leads" and "in the direction of" belong to two separate bits of the sentence. That's exactly my point.
    – Lambie
    Commented Nov 3, 2021 at 13:43
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"lead in" almost always comes before "the direction of" and it implies a future-tense state, as in

This road will lead in the direction of-

Note: the proper past tense version of "Lead" is "Led"

"Led to" implies a consequence of action, such as

"Robbing that bank led to my time in prison"

"Lead to" can't really be used properly in a sentence, however there are some examples: I can pull for it's use in other ways, such as;

Alright, I will [lead him to] the exit.

"Lead" in that context implies a future state, just as "Lead In" does.

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    What do you mean by "Lead to" can't really be used properly in a sentence? Consider "All roads lead to Rome."
    – nschneid
    Commented Oct 2, 2021 at 14:06
  • "Lead to" can be used as: "Overspending will lead to bankruptcy" (results in) or "This premise leads to a clear conclusion" (deduction, reasoning) or "We hollowed his lead to the edge of the dessert", (direction)
    – David Siegel
    Commented Nov 2, 2021 at 23:04

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