What does「のには」mean in this sentence?

Question

[彼女]{かのじょ}が[最初]{さいしょ}に[来]{き}たのにはびっくりした。

What is the usage of のには? I think that「の」means「こと」, that is, a generic event. But I can't understand the usage of には in this case.

@Will Yes, I can understand now, ありがとうございました。 — Ramanujan64, Dec 30 '18 at 02:50

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 29 '18 at 22:00

の as you said is the nominalizer. You could have used こと instead.

びっくりする means "to be surprised". には are just the normal particles, and would be translated by "at" here.

彼女が最初に来たのにはびっくりした。 : I got surprised at the fact she came in first.

The は indicates a contrast, and you could have omitted it. The に is the same に you would use for other expressions like に驚く.

In the dictionary, you can see the exact definition for this usage:

７動作・作用の原因・理由・きっかけとなるものを示す。…のために。…によって。「あまりのうれしさに泣き出す」「退職金をもとでに商売を始める」

(or at least I think this is the one)

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