Es peligroso y es peligrosa

Question

In Lesson 2.1 there is this sentence.

"¿Es peligroso ser bombero?"

Please correct me if I am wrong. Shall I use

"¿Es peligrosa ser bombera?"if I want to say "Is it dangerous to be a firewoman?"

I am wondering if we're changing to feminine according to the noun. Or should there be no change since peligroso is an adherence to be a fireman which is ser bombera/bombero.

Gracias.

Answer 1

THIS is dangeriours

ESTO es peligroso - May be femenine or masculine, it's always "es peligroso"

Answer 2

I would say Yes to neslita last question since Spanish verbs in infinitive are masculine. Thus it is said ¨el ser bombero ¨ or ¨el fumar es malo para la salud¨ and I can´t think of any infinitive verb considered as feminine.

Thank you! - neslita, Jan 27, 2010

Answer 3

I would say that it stays the same regardless of the gender of "bombero" because it is actually describing the state of being or the verb. It's the "being a fireman" that's dangerous not the actual fireman that's dangerous. If you were saying "The fireman is dangerous" then you would change the gender of "peligroso" to match "bombero".

Answer 4

Es peligrosa la tigresa?

The form of the sentence is "conjugated ser+adjective+noun phrase?" and the adjective has to agree with the number and gender of the noun phrase. In the original example, "ser bomberosa", the gender is masculine because infinitives used as nouns are masculine.

The example I gave above is best translated into English as:

Is the tigress dangerous?

And the original sentence "Es peligroso ser bombera?" is, remembering that infinitives acting as nouns most easily translate to gerunds in English:

Is being a firewoman dangerous?

There is no need for a mysterious "it", although one could certainly be added:

Is it dangerous to be a firewoman?

Is it dangerous, the tigress?

Answer 5

Es peligroso = Él es peligroso = It is dangerous

There is an understood it in that phrase and it defaults to masculine...it is the mysterious it. Peligroso is modifying the mysterious it, not the bombera of the infinitive clause (ser bombera).

Now, one can say, "Ayer encontré una bombera peligrosa" (Yesterday, I met a dangerous firewoman), but, as you can see, when peligrosa modifies the firewoman, it means that she is dangerous. But to say "es peligroso ser bombera" means that to be a firewoman is a dangerous job.

Answer 6

Then can we say that adjectives should stay masculine if they're referring to verbs?

In "ser bombera", "ser" is acting as part of a noun phrase and not as a verb, and infinitives used as nouns are masculine. If you wanted it to act on a verb, you would have to use the adverbial form "peligrosamente" and a conjugated form of the verb, but that would change the meaning.

Answer 7

Then can we say that adjectives should stay masculin if they're referring to verbs?