Word for today: Serio

Question

Why does one of the examples of the usage of "serio" use "grave" instead of serio? See below.

Tengo una herida muy grave en el mano. - I have a serious wound on my hand.

Could one say "Tengo una herida muy seria en el mano" without being grammatically embarrassed?

Thanks Tom

Answer 1

I came here looking for the same question posed by Tom.

In the answer, the following was included: When we use grave, the idea of uncurable `pops to mind:

But the word grave was used in the Word-of-the-day:

Tengo una herida muy grave en el mano. - I have a serious wound on my hand.

Given the above, should we assume that the wound is so serious that the hand will have to come off''?

Please review, and perhaps revise, the answer to Tom's question.

Answer 2

HI Tom, we do use serio this way but with this example it would sound somewhat strange. However with abstract words..

Tengo un serio problema con mi marido. This would mean something like: I have a REAL, really big..problem....
El Real Madrid tiene un serio problema con el su juego. (jeje)

However with illness we use serio when we wish to say "a tener en serio".

La gripe porcina es una enfermedad seria, pero curable .

Resultados 1 - 10 de aproximadamente 27.800 de "enfermedad seria"

When we use grave, the idea of uncurable `pops to mind:

Pepa tiene una enfermedad grave.
Se concederá permiso por enfermedad grave cuando medie hospitalización