Breakdown of Vilket konstigt ljud!
vilket
which (ett) / what a (ett-word, exclamatory)
konstig
strange
ljudet
the sound
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Questions & Answers about Vilket konstigt ljud!
Why use vilket here instead of vilken?
You use vilket because ljud (sound) is an ett-word. When making exclamations like "What a...!", the exclamatory word has to match the gender of the noun. If it were an en-word like bil (car), you would use vilken.
Where is the word for "a" in this sentence? Why isn't it "Vilket ett konstigt ljud"?
In Swedish, exclamations starting with vilken, vilket, or vilka already include the meaning of "a" or "an". You never add en or ett after them in these phrases.
Why does the adjective konstigt end in a "-t"?
Adjectives must agree with the noun they describe. Since ljud is an ett-word, the base adjective konstig (strange) gets a -t added to the end to match.
Why is the noun in the indefinite form (ljud) instead of the definite form (ljudet)?
When you use vilken or vilket to say "What a...", the noun must always be in the indefinite (basic) form. Even though there is an adjective before the noun, this structure does not trigger the "double definite" rule you see in phrases like det konstiga ljudet (the strange sound).