Word
Vad stilig han är i sin nya skjorta!
Meaning
How handsome he is in his new shirt!
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Questions & Answers about Vad stilig han är i sin nya skjorta!
Why does this sentence start with Vad when the English translation says "How"?
In Swedish exclamations, we use Vad followed by an adjective or adverb to mean "How [adjective]!". So, Vad stilig... translates to "How handsome...". If you wanted to say "What a handsome shirt!" (focusing on the noun instead of just the adjective), you would use Vilken instead: Vilken stilig skjorta!.
Why is the word order han är? Doesn't starting with Vad force the verb to come before the subject?
Normally, yes! If this were a question, you would invert the subject and verb (like Vad gör han?). However, because this is an exclamatory clause expressing emotion rather than asking a question, Swedish keeps the straight Subject + Verb word order: Vad stilig han är!.
Why do we use sin instead of hans for "his" new shirt?
We use sin (a reflexive possessive pronoun) because the shirt belongs to the subject of the same clause, han. If we used hans here, it would mean he is wearing a shirt that belongs to some other man!
Why does the adjective get an "-a" at the end (nya) if skjorta is a singular en-word?