Danish uses two main words to express surprise, admiration, or shock: sikke (used with nouns) and hvor (used with adjectives).
Exclaiming with "Sikke"
To say "What a...!", use sikke followed by a noun phrase. Because it modifies a noun, include the correct indefinite article (en or et).
| What a wonderful surprise that you are coming by! | Sikke en skøn overraskelse at du kommer forbi! |
| What a coincidence that we are meeting here! | Sikke et sammentræf at vi mødes her! |
For plural nouns, drop the singular article and use nogle (some).
| What lovely flowers the woman has! | Sikke nogle skønne blomster kvinden har! |
Exclaiming with "Hvor"
To exclaim about a quality or feeling, use hvor. While it usually means "where," in exclamations it means "how."
Notice the word order: hvor acts as the first element in the sentence, so the verb comes immediately after it, followed by the subject.
| How surprised I am! | Hvor er jeg overrasket! |
| How terrible the weather is today! | Hvor er vejret skrækkeligt i dag! |
Nouns vs. Adjectives
You can often describe the same situation using either structure, depending on what you want to emphasize.
| What a terrible movie we are watching! | Sikke en skrækkelig film vi ser! |
| How impressive it is that she swims so fast! | Hvor er det imponerende at hun svømmer så hurtigt! |
Putting It Together
In conversation, you will often hear these two structures paired up to express deep astonishment or excitement.
| What a surprise, and how fantastic the reception is! | Sikke en overraskelse, og hvor er modtagelsen fantastisk! |
