Collocations for explain - verb

in detail
I explained the issues in great detail.

fully
The reasons for the accident have not been fully explained.

adequately, properly, really, satisfactorily, well
partially, partly
This partly explains why he was so late.

exactly
briefly
quickly
easily, readily, simply
This phenomenon can be easily explained.

clearly
carefully
calmly
helpfully, patiently
The doctor explained patiently what the treatment would be.

concisely, succinctly
The general principles behind the method used are explained clearly and concisely.

excitedly

be able to, be unable to, can
I know I'm late, but I can explain why.

attempt to, seek to, try to
It is a book which seeks to explain the birth of Greek tragedy.

help (to)
purport to
Many theories purport to explain growth in terms of a single cause.

be difficult to, be hard to
It's difficult to explain exactly how the system works.

hasten to
She saw his quick frown and hastened to explain.

let sb
Let me explain what I mean.

about
She tried to explain about her fears and anxieties.

to
She explained the plan to me very carefully.

explain everything
I have a letter here which explains everything.

go a long way, some way, etc. towards/toward explaining sth
This goes some way towards/toward explaining the hostility between the two groups.

Explain is used with these nouns as the subject:
article, difference, document, factor, leaflet, letter, page, paragraph, report, theory

Explain is used with these nouns as the object:
absence, background, basics, complexity, concept, conduct, decision, detail, difference, disappearance, discrepancy, disparity, effect, existence, extent, fact, failure, feeling, finding, idea, implication, importance, inability, incidence, incident, meaning, motivation, motive, mystery, nature, occurrence, origin, paradox, phenomenon, popularity, predicament, principle, reason, reasoning, reluctance, rule, shift, similarity, situation, success, teaching, term, thing, thinking, variation, view, workings