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Explaination Vs. Explanation, Which One Is Correct?

Explaination Vs. Explanation, Which One Is Correct?

Have you ever wondered whether you are giving an “explanation” or an “explaination”? This word might be as confusing as how to pronounce “epitome” or “gauge.” But here we will explain all the details about the meaning and which one is the correct spelling.

“Explanation” means to give information and details about something to make it clear to understand for most people. This information works as a description of how something is or should be. “Explanaition” is an old way of spelling explanation. These days it is considered a misspelling of this word.

Now that you know the meaning of “explanation” and “explanaition,” let’s move forward and talk a little more about the origins, how people use the word, and some practical examples. By the end of this article, we hope you have a better understanding of this term.

Origins

The word “explanation” is a noun and comes from the Latin word “explanatio,” which comes from “explanare,” this late one being the verb form of the word.

This word comes from the verb “explain,” which means making something clear by describing every detail and relevant facts.

How People Use It

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People often use this word to give further information about how something is or how it should be. Usually, when people say there is an explanation, they mean there must be a reason for something that happened.

But we have to be careful when explaining something that happened. People might see it as giving an excuse and not giving the details or reason for the event.

Examples

  1. I tried to give him some simple explanations on how to cook the turkey and some side dishes, but he was all over the place and ended up burning the whole turkey.
  2. The explanations of the students were not clear enough. The other students could not understand anything about the subject. The teacher had to explain everything from the beginning so they could do well on the test.
  3. There must be a reasonable explanation for him being late this morning.
  4. The best explanation for her not coming to work today without saying anything is that she had an accident.
  5. The company fired a lot of people without giving any explanation. Those people now are submitting a lawsuit for unjustified termination of the contract.
  6. The explanation on why the company fired all those people was not backed up with any documents. Sooner than expected, all of the previous employees won the lawsuit due to a lack of evidence.
  7. Even if she was not mad, her mom asked her for an explanation after discovering her daughter failed a test. She wanted to help her daughter improve.
  8. Jimmy’s explanation of how we should do every task and job around here was more precise than the one we got in the induction to the company.
  9. People around the globe are waiting for the World Health Organization to explain the true origin of the SARS-CoV-2, the Covid-19 Virus.
  10. The psychologist gave some explanations on why John Doe committed those crimes. There is no clear justification for why he did it, but it gives people an understanding of how his mind works.
  11. This new book about Scottish history gives excellent explanations about the reason Scotland and Great Britain were at war for many years.
  12. Some people cannot understand the explanation of why some people have two jobs and even a side hustle.
  13. We should not give explanations to random people when it is not their concern if we did something.
  14. I gave him a pretty simple explanation of how he could start his blog.
  15. Mary’s only explanation is that she had too many things to do. That is why she has been nowhere to be found lately.
  16. I wanted to scream, to demand an explanation, but he was not willing to talk to me.
  17. Every time Professor McCullin gives his class, he is so clear, no further explanation is needed.
  18. Most of the time, a simple mind refuses to listen to any explanation of some sort.
  19. After hearing a buzzing sound coming from somewhere around the circle, she touched the stones. Right after, she felt like she was falling in a spiral. She fainted and woke up 200 years before. She was not able to find a good explanation of how that happened.
  20. His explanations were so absurd, and nobody could believe anything he said.
  21. I think I gave a perfect explanation of how to do everything in my house. I hope the cleaning company does everything in their hands to follow the instruction.
  22. I honestly could not understand any of the teacher’s explanations.
  23. To give reasonable explanations about a particular subject or topic, we need to invest time in doing proper research to be more knowledgeable and talk with confidence.
  24. “There is always a reasonable explanation for everything,” She said.
  25. Madame Antoine was impressed by Rosette’s expertise and handling of the subject. She had a lucid explanation of the artist’s work.

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Synonyms

In this list, you can find some words similar to “explanation”:

  • Motive
  • Instructions
  • Reason
  • Report
  • Comment
  • Cause
  • Commentary
  • Answer
  • Confession
  • Evidence
  • Summary
  • Story
  • Statement
  • Excuse
  • Information
  • Justification
  • Details
  • Breakdown
  • Explication

Antonyms

There are just a few words that might give us the opposite meaning of “explanation.”

  • Quiet
  • Silence
  • Concealment
  • Hiding
  • Complication

Explanation Vs. Argument

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The difference between “explanation” and “argument” is reflected in the questions that each of them will answer. The argument will start with two statements, which people will try to support with arguments. On the other hand, an explanation will answer a question, which is about the reason.

Arguments will show that something is, will be, could be, or would be. Explanations show how or why something is or will be. So we can say explanations are a little more certain than arguments, even though sometimes they resemble each other.

For example, if a person is sick, people will assume a few diseases based on the symptoms; that would be an argument. The doctors will focus on why the person has the signs to give specific details about the patient’s particular disease.

Explanation Vs. Justification

Usually, we use an explanation as a justification; this is when an explanation answers the question “why.” But we have to be clear when an explanation is not a justification.

A justification is an action that shows that something is righteous or reasonable.

For example, when a psychologist or profiler tells the reason behind the acts and crimes of a criminal or murderer, this person is not justifying these acts but addressing why they did what they did.

Conclusion

In this article, we saw a few exciting things and a good amount of examples of the word “explanation,” so we have a better understanding of how to use it and when. We also saw some differences between this word and some others, like justification and argument.

In the following paragraph, we give you a summary of what we learned in this article.

“”Explanation” has the correct spelling, while “explanaition” is an obsolete way of expressing the same idea, nowadays it is considered wrong in spelling.

An explanation can be misunderstood sometimes with a justification, but it is pretty different from an argument.

Now that we gave you some explanations surrounding this word, we want to hear about you. How often do you give explanations? Which kind of explanation do you use the most? To tell how or to answer why?