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Thread: How does the "to" work grammatically?

  1. #1
    seanb is offline Newbie
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    Post How does the "to" work grammatically?

    Hello. I'm now reading the prefatory verse of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and have a question about its grammar

    Here is the text.
    en.wikisource.org/wiki/All_in_the_Golden_Afternoon

    4th stanza 1st line.

    >Anon, to sudden silence won,

    I think it means "soon, suddenly silence occupied." and I'd like to know what the role of "to" is in the phrase.

    In my openion it is "to" for consequence. For example : He survived, to the amazement of surgeons. However it cannot be allowed to use past tense form (won) in a noun phrase. So I think the "won" is a past participle which modifies "silence" like : to sudden silence (which was) won

    Let me know. Thank you very much!
    Last edited by seanb; 10-Feb-2012 at 19:49.
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    Tdol is offline Editor, UsingEnglish.com
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    Default Re: How does the "to" work grammatically?

    They were won over to a sudden silence???
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    5jj
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    Default Re: How does the "to" work grammatically?

    Quote Originally Posted by Tdol View Post
    ???
    Context is important. Please provide enough for us to be able to deal effectively with your question.
    Your thread title should include all or part of the word/phrase being discussed.
    If you just want to know the meaning of a word, try OneLook Dictionary Search first.


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    seanb is offline Newbie
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    Default Re: How does the "to" work grammatically?

    Thanks for your response
    It seems difficult even for native English speaker!
    Carroll must have made it enigmatic on purpose, hehe

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