1 to make sth clear or easy to understand 阐明;说明白;解释:
She explained how I should fill in the form.她教我怎样填表格。I don't understand this. Can you explain it to me?这个我不明白,你可以解释一下吗?
You have to say 'Explain it to me ' NOT 'Explain me it'. This is wrong. 注意:要说 Explain it to me,不可以说 Explain me it。后者不对。
2 to give a reason for sth 说明理由;解释原因:
‘This work isn't very good.’ ‘I wasn't feeling very well.’ ‘Oh, that explains it then.’“这工作做得不太好。”“我身体有点不舒服。”“怪不得了。”The manager explained to the customers why the goods were late.经理向顾客解释了货物迟来的原因。
explain yourself
1 to give reasons for your behaviour, especially when it has upset sb 解释自己的行为(尤指令人不快的)
2 to say what you mean in a clear way 把自己的意思解释清楚
explain sth away to give reasons why sth is not your fault or is not important 为…辩解
explain/Ikˋsplen; IkˈspleIn/v [I,T] 1 to tell someone about something in a way which makes it easy to understand 解释﹐说明: explain (sth) to sb I explained the rules to Sara. 我向萨拉解释这些规则。+how/what/why etc Can someone explain how this thing works? 谁能讲解一下这东西是如何工作的吗?+that He explained that it had been a difficult film to make. 他解释说这是一部非常难拍的电影。2 to give the reason for something 解释﹐说明…的原因: +why/how etc Brad never explained why he was late. 布拉德从不解释他为什么迟到。+that I explained that I’d missed the bus. 我解释说﹐我没赶上公共汽车。explain sth away phr v to make something seem less important or less serious, by giving reasons for it 为…辩解﹐把…搪塞过去: Claire tried to explain away the bruises on her arm. 克莱尔试图把胳膊上的瘀伤搪塞过去。
explainexplainexplainsexplainedexplainingverb (explains, explaining, explained)1to tell somebody about something so that they understand it: The teacher usually explains the new words to us. He explained how to use the machine.grammarWe say ‘Explain it to me’. It is wrong to say ‘Explain me it’.2to give a reason for something: I explained why we needed the money.