Learn Dutch: Wat een schitterende slang! Hij slaapt op de warme rots. - What a magnificent snake! It is sleeping on the warm rock.

We use wat een because slang (snake) is a singular, countable noun. If the noun were plural (like slangen) or uncountable (like water), you would drop the een and just use wat, as in wat schitterende slangen!

Why does the second sentence use hij (he) for a snake instead of het (it)?

In English we often use 'it' for animals, but in Dutch, pronouns must match the noun's grammatical gender. Because slang is a de-word, we refer back to it using hij (or sometimes zij). You only use het to refer back to het-words.

Why do the adjectives schitterende and warme both end in -e?

Adjectives placed directly before a noun almost always get an -e ending. Because both slang and rots are de-words, their adjectives will always get that -e ending, regardless of whether they follow de, een, or wat een.

Does the word schitterende literally mean 'magnificent'?