Which one is correct? My teacher is too tired to explain vs. My teacher is too tired explaining

Which sentence is correct?

My teacher is too tired to explain that topic.

or

My teacher is too tired explaining that topic.

Balta Baltazar

Posted 2017-08-30T01:51:33.053

Reputation: 93

Answers

Too tired to explain

means that he is so weary that he cannot explain—perhaps he cannot concentrate think clearly.

tired explaining is not a fixed construction, but tired of explaining is:

Too tired of explaining

means that he he has explained so often that he has become annoyed—he refuses to explain any more.

StoneyB on hiatus

Posted 2017-08-30T01:51:33.053

Reputation: 176 469

1Thanks very much StoneyB. You made it so easy to understand . – Balta Baltazar – 2017-08-30T02:17:20.413

2As a native BrE speaker, your second example really grates across my eyes; the standard way of expressing that sentiment would be simply "tired of explaining" or, in extreme cases, "sick and tired of explaining". Never in my whole life have I heard "too tired of explaining". – Spratty – 2017-08-30T14:56:18.230

1@Spratty I agree that ordinarily the construction with too is not going to show up in a predicate; but it's not unheard of: *My teacher refuses to answer any more questions--he's just too tired of explaining." – StoneyB on hiatus – 2017-08-30T15:16:16.593

Perhaps for completeness you could add "too tired from explaining" too ;) – Sabre – 2017-08-30T15:58:08.820

@StoneyB - yes, that would make sense in an expanded sentence like yours; I hadn't considered that. A good point well presented. – Spratty – 2017-08-31T08:34:21.143

"too tired to explain" is right.

Strange though it may be, the only way I can explain this is by comparing it with a phrase in German:

"zu müde um zu erklären"

It means for the purpose of explaining; hence the "um" in German, and hence the "to" form rather than the "-ing" form must be used.

Michael Hardy

Posted 2017-08-30T01:51:33.053

Reputation: 121

3You should try and explain your answer based on English grammar rules. It is not right to compare two different language grammar and conclude what might be grammatically correct in the other language. – Maryam – 2017-08-30T06:36:29.037