Sometimes our first language can interfere with our use of English because we translate phrases directly from 1 language to the other.

The sentence above is a really common example of this which non-native speakers often say when talking to patients. In English, with ‘explain’ we use ‘to you’. Think of it as a gift of information, we give gifts TO people. It is the same for ‘talk and speak’ but not for ‘tell or say’.

Here are some more correct examples:

I’ve explained the sugery to your mother.

Can I speak to you about your concerns?

I will explain all the options to you before you make a decision.

In the first and last examples you can see that we can put what we are explaining between the verb and the person we are explaining it to:

I think the nurse has explained the need for resting your leg to you.