"You Got Some Explaining to Do"

[GoodTaste]

What is the difference between "You Got Some Explaining to Do" and "You Got Some Explanation to Do"?

Since the gerund is present continuing, I get the former means "the explanation is on the way" while the latter is not restricted by the time. I am not sure.

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Mark Julian Felder (born July 21, 1983), more commonly known under the simply Bizzle, is an American Christian hip hop recording artist and entrepreneur. In January 2010, Bizzle released "You Got Some Explaining to Do" directed towards Jay-Z, calling the rap icon out on his negative references towards Jesus and Christianity in his music.

Source: Bizzle - Wikipedia

 

[GoesStation]

Have you found any examples of "some explanation to do"?

 

[Skrej]

The main difference is that only 'explaining' is possible here. 'Explanation' is not possible.

Gerunds aren't continuous, because they're no longer verbs. It simply means you need to explain yourself and/or your actions.

 

[tedmc]

I don't think you can replace explaining with explanation as do does not collocate with explanation. It is either of the following:

You got some explaining to do.
You got some explanation to provide/give.

 

[GoodTaste]

Have you found any examples of "some explanation to do"?

Google has about 212,000 results for the phrase "some explanation to do" (search with the quotation marks to restrict the results to the phrase).

[h=3]Some Explanation to do - YouTube[/h]
[h=3]Wels... You've got some explanation to do....... - Reddit[/h]
[h=3]Apparently Nell has some "explanation" to do - storytime ...[/h]
[h=3]You have some explanation to do - Off Topic Archive - World[/h]
[h=3]Thelocalsociety - Artzoo have some explanation to do ...[/h]

 

[Skrej]

Every example you posted is wrong. I wonder if so many erroneous results isn't the result of some kind of meme, similar to "all your base are belong to us'.

Edit: Also, all but two of those links are obvious non-native speakers. One of those two I can't confirm, as it's a dead link.

 

[tzfujimino]

We are not speak English good.

 

[Tdol]

Google has about 212,000 results for the phrase "some explanation to do" (search with the quotation marks to restrict the results to the phrase).

And it has over five times that number for the explaining form. Always search both ways.

 

[emsr2d2]

May I be the first to point out that "You got" is also wrong? It should be "You've got ..." or "You have got ...". "You got" is the simple past of "You get". That's not the verb being used in this context. It's "to have got something to do".

 

[Tdol]

We are not speak English good.

What need when our bases is belong to you? ;-)

 

[Rover_KE]

Google has about 212,000 results for the phrase "some explanation to do" ... (search with the quotation marks to restrict the results to the phrase).

You get better answers here than you get from Google.

 

[SoothingDave]

Desi Arnaz would exclaim, in his Cuban accent, "Luuuucy! You got some esplainin' to do!" on the I Love Lucy show from the 1950s. I imagine this wording is meant to evoke that.

 

[Phaedrus]

What is the difference between "You Got Some Explaining to Do" and "You Got Some Explanation to Do"?

I think the second formulation would be possible if, in addition to changing "You got" to "You've got," we changed "do" to "make."

(Native speakers don't speak of doing explanations; we speak of making explanations.)

You've got some explanation to make.

I'm not claiming that the above is normal or usual or even particularly natural; I'm only claiming that it's possible.

In "make some explanation," "some" functions like the indefinite article (a/an). In "do some explaining," by contrast, "some" is a quantifier.

Why are you typing another post? Oh, let me guess. You've got some explanation to make.

 

[emsr2d2]

In my experience, we "give/provide" an explanation. We neither "do" nor "make" one.

 

[Phaedrus]

In my experience, we "give/provide" an explanation. We neither "do" nor "make" one.

In my experience, "give an explanation," "provide an explanation," and "make an explanation" all work.

To me, "You've got an/some explanation to make" sounds better than "You've got an/some explanation to give/provide."

However, I should be happy to make either of your substitutions in my post above.

 

[GoesStation]

"Make an explanation" sounds weird to me. Learners should not use it.

 

[Phaedrus]

"Make an explanation" sounds weird to me. Learners should not use it.

Thus, you would advise learners that all the following examples from the Corpus of Contemporary American English are improper:

• "I remembered that I had been sent to make explanations so as to obtain Broome's release."
• "Rif hated to make explanations. "
• "She did not like to make explanations at parties."
• "Third, more research related to levels of generalization understanding, such as ability to state the generalization, to use the generalization to make explanations, and to use the generalization to make predictions, is needed."
• "Those who ultimately lose would make explanations based on this causal schema Explanations would be the same for winners and for losers at half-time, and would also be the same for winners or losers at the end of the game."

In any case, my main point in Post #14 was not that "make" collocates awesomely with "explanation"; it was that by changing "do" to a verb that is idiomatically followed by the noun "explanation," the second construction found in the OP becomes grammatically possible and, in certain special contexts, even usable, with its own very distinct meaning. Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

 

[jutfrank]

Desi Arnaz would exclaim, in his Cuban accent, "Luuuucy! You got some esplainin' to do!" on the I Love Lucy show from the 1950s. I imagine this wording is meant to evoke that.

Yes. Although I doubt the use here was meant to evoke Desi Arnaz in particular, I do think that You('ve) got some explaining to do is best treated as a fixed expression. It doesn't work with explanation, of course.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

What is the difference between "You have got some explaining to do" and "You have got some explanation to do"?

The difference is that one is right and one is wrong.

In the US, we would usually say, "You have some explaining to do" or "You've got some explaining to do."

In your example, however, the nonstandard grammar is intentionally colloquial, so it's fine.

(And capitals are correct in a title. I corrected it as a sentence, not a title.)
Since the gerund is present continuing, I guess the former means "The explanation is on the way,"

No. We don't know whether it's on its way. Maybe an explanation is coming, and maybe it isn't.

while the latter is not restricted by the time.

It has nothing to do with time. The latter is simply wrong. Explanation is a noun, which wouldn't fit. You could say, "You owe us an explanation."

I am not sure.

Now you know!

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Google has about 212,000 results for the phrase "some explanation to do" (search with the quotation marks to restrict the results to the phrase).

Ugh!

Don't look for good grammar online! The internet will show you what people say, but many native English speakers have terrible grammar.