Breakdown of Ik heb nog nooit zo'n harde klap gehoord.
ik
I
hebben
to have
hard
loud / fast (forceful) / hard (with effort)
nooit
never
Questions & Answers about Ik heb nog nooit zo'n harde klap gehoord.
Why do we use zo'n here instead of zulke?
Zo'n translates to "such a" and is used before singular, countable nouns like klap (bang). You use zulke for plural nouns (zulke harde klappen - such loud bangs) and uncountable nouns.
Why does the adjective harde get an -e ending after zo'n?
Zo'n is a contraction of zo and een, so it follows the exact same adjective rules as the word een. Because klap is a de-word (de klap), the adjective gets an -e ending: een harde klap becomes zo'n harde klap. If it were a het-word, there would be no -e (for example: zo'n groot huis).
Why does the sentence use nog nooit instead of just nooit?
While nooit simply means "never", adding nog to make nog nooit means "never before" or "never yet". It emphasizes that you hadn't heard a bang this loud up until this very moment.
I thought hard meant "hard" (like a rock). Why does it mean "loud" here?