1
× Could you explain me why you arrived late?
√ Could you explain to me why you arrived late?
We say explain something to someone: ‘She explained the situation to her family.’
2
× He explained to us a terrible story
√ He told us a terrible story
We say tell somebody a story or narrate a story (NOT explain).
3
× The book explains the life of a woman who…
√ The book depicts/portrays/describes/narrates the life on a woman who…
We don’t normally use explain + noun when we mean ‘tell’, ‘talk about’, ‘describe’, ‘portray’. When we use explain + noun, we normally mean ‘say what the reasons for something are’, or ‘make something clear or easy to understand’. For example:
- Can you explain his strange behaviour? (=Can you say what the reasons for his strange behaviour are?)
- The teacher explained the rules of the game.
We often use explain before question words such as how, who, why, etc.
- He explained where the library is.
- He explained how the machine works.
- Please, could you explain why you are so late.