Breakdown of Vilken fantastisk överraskning det var!
vara
to be
det
it (neuter)
vilken
which (en) / what a (en-word, exclamatory)
fantastisk
fantastic
Questions & Answers about Vilken fantastisk överraskning det var!
Why do we use vilken here instead of vad?
When making an exclamation that means "What a...", Swedish uses vilken, vilket, or vilka depending on the noun's gender and number. You cannot translate "what a" literally as "vad en". Because överraskning is an en-word, we use vilken.
Why is the adjective fantastisk and not fantastiska?
Exclamatory phrases with vilken use the indefinite (a/an) form. Since överraskning is an indefinite en-word, the adjective takes its basic form (fantastisk) without the -a or -t ending.
Why does the sentence end with det var instead of var det?
Even though vilken is often used as a question word, this sentence is an exclamation, not a question. Because it is an exclamation, it keeps standard statement word order, with the subject (det) coming before the verb (var).