Breakdown of No puedes nadar aquí porque el mar es más peligroso que el río.
ser
to be
no
no, not
aquí
here
porque
because
peligroso
dangerous
poder
to be able to / can
nadar
to swim
que
that / than
el río
river
más
more
el mar
sea
Questions & Answers about No puedes nadar aquí porque el mar es más peligroso que el río.
How does the "more dangerous than" comparison work in this sentence?
Why is peligroso ending in -o?
In comparisons, the adjective has to match the gender of the first noun you are talking about. It ends in -o because it describes el mar (the sea), which is masculine. If we were comparing a feminine noun like la playa (the beach), it would be más peligrosa que.
Why do we use es instead of está for "the sea is more dangerous"?
We use es (from ser) because being dangerous is described here as a permanent characteristic or general fact about this sea, rather than a temporary state.
Why does the sentence use the dictionary form nadar instead of conjugating it?
When you have two verbs working together like "can swim" (puedes nadar), only the first verb is conjugated to match the person doing the action. The second verb stays in its infinitive (dictionary) form.
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