Learn Spanish (Spain): ¿De verdad? ¡Qué raro!

In English, you use "how" plus an adjective to make an exclamation, like "How strange!". But in Spanish, you must use Qué plus the adjective. Using Cómo raro is incorrect because Cómo is generally used for asking how to do something or how someone is.

Does raro mean "rare" or "strange"?

It can mean "rare" (as in uncommon), but in everyday Spanish, raro is most often used to mean "strange" or "weird". If a situation or person is acting out of the ordinary, a Spanish speaker will naturally react with ¡Qué raro! (How weird!).

Can I just say ¿Realmente? instead of ¿De verdad?

You can, and people will definitely understand you, but ¿De verdad? is a much more natural and common way to say "Really?" or "Are you serious?" when reacting to surprising news in spoken Spanish.

What does ¿De verdad? literally mean?

The noun verdad means "truth". So, de verdad literally translates to "of truth". It is a fixed expression that Spanish speakers use all the time to verify if something is actually true.