These three words are quite similar to each other, as they all refer to setting things in more or cause something else to happen. Let’s take a look at each word separately to see how to use each of them correctly.
The verb ‘trigger’ means to bring about something or to make something happen. For example, extreme weather conditions such as earthquakes, hurricanes, droughts and so on can trigger humanitarian crises like power outages, food, and water shortages.
The verb ‘lead’ means to get somebody to do something that maybe they wouldn’t have done if it wasn’t for them being persuaded. For example, older siblings often lead their younger siblings to do mischievous things like climbing into their neighbors back garden or taking treats without asking for permission and so on, which the younger sibling normally wouldn’t do.
Finally, the verb ‘stem’ is often used to say that something stopped increasing or spreading like a leak in the roof or the rise in unemployment levels, for example. You can see that these things are undesirable and are usually needed to be stopped from spreading or getting worse.
However, ’stem’ can also mean to come from or arise from something else. For example, health problems such as high levels of anxiety or stress can stem from a toxic work environment.
Here are some examples of the three words being used:
- While dining at a Thai food restaurant, the restaurant-goer ate a noodle dish which triggered an allergic reaction. It was later discovered that the dish had traces of nuts in it which he was unaware of at the time.
- The company led its investors to believe that the previous quarter was a lot more profitable than it actually was.
- The rising levels of homeless people and homeless families have stemmed from the housing crisis. The rental sector needs to be regulated appropriately and the market needs to offer more affordable housing units for first-time house owners and young families.
All three of these words imply that there is a cause and effect relationship happening here. The difference is how that cause and effect relationship plays out. In general, the difference between these words is this:
- Trigger: If you trigger something, it means that you begin the process for starting it. This usually implies that there are many steps between the trigger and the end result. A good example of this would be dominos that are stacked in a row. If you touch one, that eventually leads to all the dominos falling. However, there are many steps between the first domino falling and the entire domino field falling.
- Lead: If you lead something, it usually means that you can give guidance and instruction but you can’t determine the outcome of something. For example, you would not lead a domino fall because whether the dominos fall is predictable. You could instead lead a movement or a group of people. In these cases, you can’t be sure about what will happen. Like a trigger, leading something implies that you are part of a group or that a process is complex. There must be several things that work together to make something happen.
- Stem: If something stems from another, it means that those two things are related. Some of the time, the result is an unintended consequence of the first thing, but not always.
Note that the usage of stem is different from trigger or lead. If you use stem, you write or say the result that stems from the cause. For example:
- The melting of the ice cream stems from the hot weather.
- The hot weather triggers the melting of the ice cream.
- The hot weather leads to the melting of the ice cream.
While the subject in all of these sentences is the same, it does not mean that everything could use all of these causal words. Notice some of these sentences:
- The newspaper article triggered a flood of investigations by the government into the corrupt actions of the Congressman. (The newspaper article was only the first step in a complicated process, and it was clear that there are many things that happen.)
- My coworker’s news that she was getting married led to everyone becoming interested in each others’ personal lives. (This means that the coworker’s news made everyone more conscious about their personal lives in the office. Since this is not a linear process and is rather complicated, it could use lead.)
- My mistrust of banks stems from watching my parents lose their money life savings after being told that they should keep their money at the bank. (The cause of my mistrust is watching my parents lose their money; my feelings of mistrust are the result!).
