Followed by a transitive particle

• away: They turned to superstition as well as religion to explain away the causes.

Object

• phenomenon: They use physical ideas to explain simple phenomena for example, the formation of shadows, sounds being heard through a variety of materials.

• difference: And can you explain the difference between a PCT and PCG?

• concept: Worked examples may help in explaining technical concepts to lay people.

• reason: Mr Huhne said: " David Miliband must explain the reasons for the current cutbacks.

• everything: He didn't know much about HIV, so I explained everything.

• origin: The opening address was given by Mrs Lynn Allen who set out the objectives and explained the Canadian origins.

Used with why or when

• why: In the ' Answer ' , you can explain why you disagree with the facts used to refuse your claim.

• what: Reading the author Try to explain what, in your view, the author wants us to think at various points.

• who: But none of this is used to explain who she became.

• where: Write a story explaining where you think the treasure came from.

• which: Explain which could be most conveniently used in the laboratory.

• when: They see me going back to old behaviors and one of the hardest things is not being able to explain when it happens again.

Modifying Another Word

• briefly: I find unlikely I'll just briefly explain the plot of Friends.

• clearly: The man of taste explained very clearly how a piece may be in some manner interesting without having a grain of merit.

• partly: The problems associated with these preparations may be partly explained by a series of studies carried out by Swanson et al ( 1999 ).

Preposition: in

• detail: These courses are explained in more detail in section 2.

• term: The lifecycle explained in non-technical terms: business users will not be baffled by IT jargon.

• chapter: This procedure of taking fish on board is explained in the chapter on hauling.

• section: The values " Index " , " Next " , and " Prev " are explained in the section on link types.