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Collocations for surprise - noun

1. feeling of surprise

ADJ.

great, utter | mild, some | initial
After the initial surprise I got to like the place.
mock
His eyebrows rose in mock surprise.

QUANT.

element
The Egyptian team relied on the element of surprise to defeat their stronger opponents.

VERB + SURPRISE

express, register, show | feign
He feigned surprise when I went up and said hello.
hide
She was quick to hide her surprise.
cause
The president''s remarks caused surprise and embarrassment.

PREP.

in ~
‘Walk twenty miles!’ repeated the old man in surprise.
to your ~
Much to her surprise she enjoyed the party.
with/without ~
It was with some surprise that I read of his resignation.
~ at
She showed no surprise at the news.

PHRASES

an expression/a look of surprise, a gasp/scream/shriek, etc. of surprise

2. sth that you did not expect

ADJ.

big, complete, great, major, total | lovely, nice, pleasant, wonderful

VERB + SURPRISE

come as | get, have
I had a lovely surprise when I saw Mark there.
spring
Johnson sprung a surprise by beating the favourite in the first round.
be in for
Your mother''s in for a bit of a surprise when she gets home.
catch sb by, take sb by
The storm took us completely by surprise.

SURPRISE + NOUN

announcement, attack, party, victory, visit

PREP.

~ for
It was a complete surprise for me.
~ to
His refusal came as no surprise to his boss.

PHRASES

a bit of a/quite a surprise

Collocations for surprise - verb

ADV.

greatly, really | not at all
The outcome did not surprise me at all.
hardly | a little, slightly

VERB + SURPRISE

wouldn''t
It wouldn''t surprise me if they announced they were going to get married.
seem to | want to
They wanted to surprise their mother and get the breakfast ready.

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