ENGLISH
REFERENCE

surrender to

phr. v..
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford

phr. v.. to stop fighting or resisting something and let it control you.

phr. v.. to cease resistance to an enemy, opponent, or overwhelming force; can also describe yielding to an emotion or impulse.


SIMPLE

The soldiers had to surrender to the enemy.

CONTEXTUAL

After hours of trying to stay awake, she finally surrendered to her exhaustion and fell asleep.

COMPLEX

The rebel forces were eventually forced to surrender to the government troops after their supply lines were completely severed.

Particles
to
Separability
inseparable
Pattern
surrender + to + object
Usage

requires a direct object following the preposition 'to'.

Teaching tip

highlight that this can be used literally for war or figuratively for feelings like 'temptation' or 'despair' to help students see its range.

Pitfall

They surrendered the enemy.They surrendered to the enemy.without 'to', the verb means you are giving something up (like a weapon), rather than giving yourself up to someone else.

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