English Translation
What a surprise!
Is the いう necessary in this sentence? can it be, " なんと驚き?
@ericaw
The full version is 何という驚きなのでしょう.
なんと驚き is grammatically broken and sounds unnatural. It’s like “this is a kind surprise” in English. You cannot drop “of” from a phrase “a kind of X”. Likewise, don’t drop という from this Japanese sentence.
By the way, I won’t translate “what a surprise” as 何という驚き in Japanese. It’s understandable but no native speaker says it.
ビックリだわ
おったまげたわ
ウソ！マジで？
予想もしなかったわ
are my alternative translations. All of them are casual expressions.
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