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to my surprise vs to my astonishment

Both 'to my surprise' and 'to my astonishment' are correct phrases used to express being unexpectedly amazed or shocked. They are interchangeable in many contexts, but 'to my astonishment' may convey a stronger sense of being extremely surprised. The choice between them depends on the level of intensity you want to convey.

Last updated: March 27, 2024 • 1270 views

to my surprise

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to express being unexpectedly amazed or shocked.

This phrase is used to indicate that something happened unexpectedly and caused surprise or amazement.

Examples:

To my surprise, she showed up at the party.
To my surprise, the test results were better than I expected.
To my surprise, he agreed to help us.
To my surprise, the movie turned out to be really good.
To my surprise, the project was completed ahead of schedule.

Show examples from the web [+]

And I discovered to my surprise... that this was love.
But to my surprise, initial sat-scans came up negative.
And much to my surprise, they were noticed.
And to my surprise, they said my primary caregiver had been a distant relative of the family.
Much to my surprise, a couple of the locals had fly fishing on the menu.
And to my surprise, it got hundreds of thousands of views the first day.
But, to my surprise, when I came here, just like Sakamoto and Nakaoka.
Much to my surprise then, the Renault was the slowest.
You did the right thing, much to my surprise.
You did the right thing, much to my surprise.
So I started researching, and to my surprise, this project had never been done before in the arts or the sciences.
Indeed, to my surprise, he even begun to instruct me.
So I bought him to my surprise, he talked to me for the whole night.
But to my surprise, she was so big about the whole thing and let me off easily.
And to my surprise, he actually wrote back.
So I uploaded a demo of this project online, and to my surprise it went viral.
In the end, to my surprise, he turned the conversation to more personal matters.
Sherine heard the shots outside and my husband's angry shouts indoors, but, to my surprise, she didn't say a word.
But, to my surprise I couldn't find any of these files.
So I bought him to my surprise, he talked to me for the whole night.

Alternatives:

much to my surprise
surprisingly
unexpectedly
as it turned out
contrary to my expectations

to my astonishment

This phrase is correct and less commonly used than 'to my surprise'. It conveys a stronger sense of being extremely surprised.

This phrase is used to express a high level of surprise or shock at something unexpected.

Examples:

To my astonishment, he won the competition.
To my astonishment, the price was much lower than I thought.
To my astonishment, she revealed her true identity.
To my astonishment, the building suddenly collapsed.
To my astonishment, the experiment was a success.

Show examples from the web [+]

And to my astonishment, they backed me 100 percent.
And to my astonishment, she agreed to let me photograph her granddaughter.
And to my astonishment, when I began seriously studying other traditions, I began to realize that belief - which we make such a fuss about today - is only a very recent religious enthusiasm that surfaced only in the West, in about the 17th century.
The report not only provides evidence of the involvement of Mugabe in these activities, but names a numbers of other senior Zimbabweans, four of whom are subject to the EU's restrictive measures but four of whom, to my astonishment, are not.
...when suddenly, in the middle of the third act... ...to my astonishment, the emperor...
To my astonishment the Presidency agreed with me, saying that was exactly what they want it to be.
Moreover, to my astonishment, the on-line forms used to apply for accreditation exist in only two EU languages (French and English).
To my astonishment, this week I received a 'note', signed by the Commissioner concerned, which repeated the same insults and the same justifications for those criminal acts.
To my astonishment, the next speaker is Mr Ferber for two minutes.
To my astonishment I found that the Agency communicates with the public in only three languages: English, French and German.
To my astonishment, people working in the industry have stated that purse-seine fishing is not subject to any specific European rules, since this fishing technique was 'forgotten' when the regulations were recast in 1998.
If you question the highest courts in Turkey about this, to my astonishment, they are still unable to provide you with any answers.
To my astonishment the Commission was not present at this exchange of views, on the grounds that 'the Commission is not responsible for supervising independent agencies'.

Alternatives:

to my amazement
to my disbelief
to my shock
to my bewilderment
to my incredulity

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