If somebody tugged hard on your shirt sleeve, it would likely tear. But if all parts of your shirt were tugged equally, no tearing would occur. How does this relate to tidal forces?

When the shirt is been tugged on the shirt sleeve, a greater force is been applied to a small surface area, so the shirt tears, but when the whole shirt is tugged, the force is been spread to all parts of the shirt so no tearing will occur as a result.

This is because in tidal force, the side nearer to the force is more attracted than the side that is farther away. Tidal force is also known as differential force.