When you want to exclaim "What a...!" to express surprise or a strong reaction, Swedish uses the words vilken, vilket, and vilka.
The form you choose depends on the gender and number of the noun you are reacting to. Notice that unlike English, Swedish does not add a word for "a" or "an" in these phrases.
En-words (Vilken)
For singular en-words, use vilken. The adjective and noun that follow are in their basic, indefinite forms.
| What a terrible surprise! | Vilken hemsk överraskning! |
| What a crazy idea, that was a shock you know! | Vilken galen idé, det var ju en chock! |
Ett-words (Vilket)
For singular ett-words, use vilket. Remember that any adjective describing an ett-word must take the neuter -t ending.
| What a strange sound! | Vilket konstigt ljud! |
| What a messy room he has! | Vilket stökigt rum han har! |
Plural (Vilka)
For plural nouns of either gender, use vilka. The adjective takes its plural -a ending.
| What generous gifts you gave us! | Vilka generösa presenter ni gav oss! |
| What loud noises we heard yesterday! | Vilka höga ljud vi hörde igår! |
Building Longer Reactions
You can easily expand these exclamations into full sentences by adding a short clause like det var (it was) at the end, or by linking multiple adjectives together to emphasize your surprise.
| What a fantastic surprise it was! | Vilken fantastisk överraskning det var! |
| What terrible and strange sounds! | Vilka hemska och konstiga ljud! |