Much to the sadness of his students

[Bassim]

I am wondering if my sentence is grammatically correct.

Much to the sadness of his students, the old professor had to retire because of ill health.

 

[Tarheel]

It's fine.

 

[GoesStation]

It would be more natural to say Much to his students' distress.

 

[Tarheel]

Doctor Sowell quit writing his weekly column, and it made me sad, not distressed.

 

[Rover_KE]

I'm not a lover of 'Much to the sadness of his students...'

I might say 'Much to the disappointment ...'

 

[emsr2d2]

Or "Much to the dismay of his students, ..."

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Use dismay if the students are alarmed, upset, or agitated. Use disappointment if they're simply sad.

 

[Tdol]

You could use his students were saddened....