2

To his amazement the girl did kiss her hand and stretch it out.

In my understanding, to mostly refer the object of an action. So what's the meaning of to in this sentence?

I think, the sentence should be rewrite to something like the following sentence.

Amazemently, the girl did kiss her hand and stretch it out.

Improve this question
1
  • 2
    'Amazemently' is not a grammatical coinage in English. In English there's no accepted coherent meaning to making an adverb out of a noun. Adding '-ly' to a noun makes an adjective.
    – Mitch
    Commented Mar 20, 2011 at 14:01

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
5

The sixth entry in the New Oxford American Dictionary's listing for to is:

to 6 governing a phrase expressing someone's reaction to something : to her astonishment, he smiled.

So to in your example is simply a marker to introduce the reaction and identify the person having the reaction: To whose amazement? To his amazement. (Whoever "he" is.)

(And as others have suggested, you really never want to use bizarre coinages like amazemently in a sentence.)

Improve this answer
3
  • I think you mean: 'you should never use'. why you use 'want'? How do you know how I want?
    – lovespring
    Commented Mar 20, 2011 at 13:40
  • 4
    @lovespring: It's a softer way of saying "don't do it." Turns a command into a suggestion.
    – Robusto
    Commented Mar 20, 2011 at 13:48
  • 1
    @lovespring: It helps to think of "you" as a generic plural referencing everyone and not you specifically.
    – MrHen
    Commented Mar 21, 2011 at 19:18
5

I think saying to his is used to specify the person who is amazed.

When you say,

Amazingly, the girl did kiss her(or his?) hand and stretch it out

You are never sure, to whose got amazed there. The person who is narrating the story, or the onlookers, etcetera.

Where as, when you say

To his amazement ..

You mean that the guy was amazed that the girl kissed her/his hand and stretched it out.

Improve this answer
2

I don't find anything wrong with the first sentence,

To his amazement the girl did kiss her hand and stretch it out

here to refers to 'his amazement' which is the object. Your suggestion

Amazemently, the girl did kiss her hand and stretch it out.

Amazingly in place of amazemently (is this even a word?) will be more appropriate I believe

Improve this answer
1
  • Yes. Amazingly is more appropriate. My question is: what's the meaning of the 'to' in this sentence?
    – lovespring
    Commented Mar 20, 2011 at 9:11
2

It means the girl's action of kissing her hand and stretching it out led to him being amazed or to his amazement.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .