“to +one’s+情感名詞”是英語中一個十分有用的結構，主要表示某人由于某事的發生而喚起其內心的某種情感，通常譯為“令某人……的是”“使某人感到……的是”。這類結構在學習時應弄清以下幾個方面。

一、該結構主要適用哪些名詞

能用于該結構的名詞非常有限，常見的有 admiration(羨慕), amazement(驚奇), amusement(娛樂), annoyance(煩惱), astonishment (驚奇), delight(欣喜), despair(絕望), disappointment(失望), embarrassment(難堪), happiness, horror(恐怖), joy(高興), puzzlement(疑惑), regret(遺憾), relief(放心), satisfaction(滿意), shame(羞愧), sorrow(悲傷), surprise(驚訝)等。如：

To my amazement, he arrived on time. 令我驚異的是，他居然準時趕到了。

To my great amusement his false beard fell off. 使我感到極其好笑的是，他的假胡子掉了下來。

To his annoyance, he discovered they hadn’t waited. 他發現他們沒有等他而感到十分煩惱。

To his no small astonishment the woman began to laugh. 使他吃驚不小的是這個女人竟開始笑了起來。

To her embarrassment, she couldn’t remember his name. 令她感到困窘的是，她記不起他的名字了。

To my shame I never thanked him for his kindness. 我感到慚愧的是對他的好意我從未表示過感謝。

注：有時可將兩個名詞并列使用。如：

To her surprise and joy, she was awarded first prize. 使她又驚又喜的是，她獲得了一等獎。

To her great disappointment and annoyance, she failed in the English examination again. 使她極為失望和苦惱的是，她的英語考試又沒有及格。

二、如何強調該結構的語氣

若要加強該結構的語氣，通常有兩種方式：

1. 在名詞前加 great, deep, utter 等形容詞修飾。如：

To our great delight the day turned out fine. 使我們感到十分高興的是，天氣轉晴了。

To my great disappointment I failed to get the job. 我沒得到那份工作，大為失望。

To his great disappointment, she wasn’t on the train. 令他大大失望的是她不在那列火車上。

To my utter delight he lent me the money I needed. 使我十分高興的是，他借給了我需要的錢。

To my deep indignation, he pretended not to know about it. 使我十分憤慨的是，他假裝不了解此事。

2. 在整個短語前加副詞greatly, much 等修飾。如：

Greatly to my regret, I cannot attend the party. 很可惜的是，我無法參加聚會。

He has succeeded, much to the delight of his parents. 他成功了，這使他父母都非常高興。

Much to my surprise the door was unlocked. 使我大為吃驚的是，門沒有鎖。

Much to my regret I am unable to accept your invitation. 很抱歉，我不能接受你的邀請。

三、該結構在句中的位置

該結構通常位于句首，但有時也可位于句末，甚至句中。如：

He broke it, greatly to my annoyance. 他打破了那東西，這使我非常氣惱。

I learned to my sorrow that he was killed in the accident. 我獲悉他在事故中喪生而深感悲痛。(from www.hz123456.com)

I discovered to my horror that my passport was missing. 使我驚恐的是，我發現我的護照不見了。

The work was done to his own satisfaction, but in my opinion it was badly done. 這工作他做得很滿意，但在我看來，卻是做得很糟。

四、該結構的變體

該結構通常的變體是“to the+情感名詞+of sb”。如：

To the surprise of everybody the man was the girl’s father. 使大家吃驚的是，這個人就是這個女孩的父親。

He fell in the water, much to the entertainment of the children. 他掉進水里，逗得孩子們樂不可支。

To the delight of his proud parents, he has made a full recovery. 令他自自豪的父母高興的是，他完全恢復了。