Breakdown of Vilken stor chock det var igår!
vara
to be
det
it (neuter)
stor
big
igår
yesterday
vilken
which (en) / what a (en-word, exclamatory)
chocken
the shock
Questions & Answers about Vilken stor chock det var igår!
Why do we use vilken here instead of vilket or vilka?
We use vilken because chock is an en-word (en chock). If it were an ett-word like hus (house), you would use vilket (Vilket stort hus!), and for plural words, you would use vilka (Vilka stora chocker!).
In English, we say 'What a big shock'. Why isn't there a word for 'a' (en) in the Swedish sentence?
When using vilken, vilket, or vilka to say 'What a...' in an exclamation, Swedish drops the indefinite article (en or ett). You just put the vilken word directly in front of the adjective and noun.
Why is the adjective stor and not stort or stora?
The adjective must match the noun it describes. Since chock is a singular en-word, the adjective takes its basic form, stor. You also use the indefinite form of the adjective here because there is no definite article.
Normally Swedish puts the verb in the second position (the V2 rule). Why is it det var (subject-verb) instead of var det?
Exclamations starting with vilken are a special exception to the normal V2 rule. The whole exclamatory phrase (Vilken stor chock) comes first, followed by the normal subject-verb order (det var). If you said var det, it would sound like a question instead of an exclamation!
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