explanation of/for something

[EdisonBhola]

Hi all,

Could you tell me which of the following is correct?

an explanation of something
an explanation for something

e.g. He changed all my sentences, but he didn't provide any explanations of/for the changes made.
e.g. The document contains a list of the mistakes accompanied by explanations of/for why they are wrong.

To me, both "of" and "for" sound very natural. Are they both acceptable?

Many thanks!

 

[The Newt]

I think we would only use "of why they were wrong" in the second example. In the first example either is probably possible. Note that there's a potential small difference between the following:

He provided no explanation of what he did.
He provided no explanation for what he did.

The first refers to the details of what he did, the second to the reason for doing it.