Charlie Bernstein
VIP Member
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2009
- Member Type
- Other
- Native Language
- English
- Home Country
- United States
- Current Location
- United States
Yup. Your "explanations to make" makes sense. But (as you made clear up front) it's awkward. So I agree that it would be a disservice to encourage a student to use it.Thus, you would advise learners that all the following examples from the Corpus of Contemporary American English are improper:
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.
- "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."