Breakdown of Какой потрясающий вид с горы!
какой
which/what kind of (m, sister forms: какая, какое)
гора
mountain
вид
view
потрясающий
amazing, stunning
Questions & Answers about Какой потрясающий вид с горы!
The current lesson is about using что за for 'what a'. Why does this sentence use какой instead of что за?
Потрясающий looks like a participle. How is it functioning here?
You are spot on! It is a present active participle from the verb потрясать (to shake, to astound). While it literally means 'astounding', it is fully adopted in everyday Russian as a standard adjective meaning 'amazing', 'stunning', or 'breathtaking'.
Why do we use the preposition с for 'from' here, instead of из or от?
The choice of 'from' preposition in Russian depends on its opposite 'to' preposition. Because you go onto a mountain (на гору), the corresponding preposition for coming or looking from it is с (+ genitive case). If you used из, it would imply you were looking from inside the mountain (like from a cave).
Could I add это at the end to say 'What an amazing view from the mountain this is!'?
No, you shouldn't add это here. Unlike English, which often tacks on 'this is' or 'it is' at the end of exclamations, Russian leaves it out entirely. The phrase stands perfectly on its own without a verb or a demonstrative pronoun.