Learn Romanian: Spre uimirea ei, el nici nu a salutat. - To her amazement, he didn't even say hello.

In Romanian, expressing an emotional result like "to her amazement" or "to my surprise" uses the preposition spre (which usually means "towards"). It is followed by the articulated emotion noun and the person experiencing the emotion.

Why is it uimirea ei instead of just uimire ei?

When a noun is followed directly by a genitive pronoun like ei (her) or a possessive adjective, that noun must take the definite article. Because uimire is a feminine noun, it takes the definite article -a to become uimirea.

How does the phrase nici nu work to mean "didn't even"?

By itself, nici usually means "neither" or "nor". However, when placed immediately before a negative verb like nu a salutat, it acts as an intensifier. The combination nici nu is the standard way to express "not even".

Since Romanian verbs often drop subject pronouns, why is el included here?

While the verb a salutat already indicates a third-person singular subject, adding the pronoun el creates a strong stylistic contrast between her reaction (ei) and his action (el). It emphasizes just how unexpected his behavior was.