Breakdown of Vilken typ av musik gillar du?
du
you (singular)
vilken
which (en) / what a (en-word, exclamatory)
av
of, by / from (cause)
musiken
the music
gilla
to like (everyday synonym of tycka om)
typen
the type, the kind
Questions & Answers about Vilken typ av musik gillar du?
Why does the sentence start with Vilken instead of Vad when the English translation says "What"?
In Swedish, when you ask "what" followed immediately by a noun (like "what type" or "what car"), you usually use vilken, vilket, or vilka (which literally mean "which"). Vad is generally used on its own, like a standalone pronoun (for example, Vad gör du? - What are you doing?).
Why do we use Vilken here instead of Vilket?
The word for "which" or "what" has to agree with the gender of the noun it belongs to. Because "type" is an en-word (en typ), we use vilken. If the noun were an ett-word, like ett band (a band), you would use vilket band.
Does this sentence follow the V2 (verb-second) rule? It looks like gillar is the fifth word!
Yes, it perfectly follows the V2 rule! In Swedish, the verb must be the second block of information, not necessarily the second single word. The entire question phrase Vilken typ av musik acts as block number 1, so the verb gillar correctly takes position 2.
Could I use tycker om instead of gillar in this sentence?
Yes, you can! Vilken typ av musik tycker du om? means exactly the same thing. Gillar is just a bit shorter, slightly more casual, and very common in everyday spoken Swedish, but both are perfectly natural here.
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