end of an era / end to an era

[englishstudent]

Hi,

In the sentence "His resignation marked an end to an era",
should it be "end of an era"? Or is it correct to
say "end to an era".

Thanks

[Tdol]

'Of' is probably more common, but 'to' is OK.

[englishstudent]

tdol, thanks for the clarification. The only place I am used to seeing 'to'
is in something like 'to put an end TO something.'. So it sounded strange to me.

[Tdol]

You can also bring something, including eras, to an end.

[phillip_l]

there is a big difference in meaning here which is why you normally see end of an era..

to would imply his resignation forced an end to this era
of signifies that his resignation coincided with/brought about the end of an era
a subtle difference but you can think of one as chopping something off the other as closing a door.