Explain & Recommend

The following verbs to explain and to recommend have one thing in common. Polish students often use them in a wrong way. They do so because they translate the structure/sentence with these verbs directly from their mother tongue. However, in the English language it is vital to use the preposition to before a person, i.e.

to explain something to somebody

Examples:
Could you explain that to me?
I explained the situation to my bank manager.
He carefully explained the procedure to my mum.
The librarian will explain to us how to use the catalogue system.

to recommend something to somebody

Examples:
I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in chemistry.
Would you recommend this company to us?
Could you recommend a good film to me?