a big amazement/astonishment/wonder for me to know that he married again.
Thread starter matar0
matar0
Italian, Italy
Is it possible instead to use these nouns in this construction?
It was a big amazement/astonishment/wonder for me to know that he married again.
And the corresponding adjectives?:
It was amazing/astonishing/wondering for me to know that he married again.
Please give me any comment also about the construction in general and its usages which instead are possible.
Finally, Can i say:
The big amusement for them was to do that/ to have done that
To do that / to have done that was big amusement for them
Besides, Can you comment on the rest of my previous message:
Thanks Very Very Much
NealMc
My first choice would be:
It was surprising for me to find out that he had married again
I would also offer:
It was amazing that he married again
It was astonishing that he married again
The amusing thing for them was to do that/ to have done that.
To do that / to have done that was a matter of no small amusement for them.
Neal Mc
non_parlo_italiano
Hi matar0,
I think it would be better to use adjectives, as in "I was amazed to hear he married again". We would use "astonished" less frequently in Australia (although I think Americans may use it more often), and I can't really think of a particularly appropriate way to use "wonder" in this context.
Two of many other possible alternatives are:
(1) I was (so/rather) surprised/shocked to find out he had remarried.
(2) I was caught off guard when I heard the news that he'd married again.
It is possible to use nouns, but I think the above responses sound more natural. However in this case you would say something like "It was a surprise for me to find out that he had married again" or "It came as a surprise to me to hear that he had married again".
"Amazement"/"astonishment"/"wonder" are, as "surprise"/"shock", associated with something unexpected. However the first group of words have more of a positive implication (e.g. if you like mountains but you have never seen one, and you see Mt. Everest for the first time, you would experience amazement/astonishment/wonder/awe), while the second group of words is more to do with the unexpected element (and not necessarily with positive implications).
It depends on how close you are to the person you are speaking to. Among close friends, it would be ok to say something like "How interesting/amusing, that they married even after... (whatever reason you have for finding it amusing)". However if you want to be more polite, you could say "I found it quite unusual, that he remarried..."