Breakdown of No hay peligro; todo está siendo esterilizado y desinfectado.
ser
to be
y
and
no
no, not
estar
to be (location/state)
Questions & Answers about No hay peligro; todo está siendo esterilizado y desinfectado.
How exactly does the está siendo structure work in this sentence?
This structure is the progressive analytical passive. It combines the present tense of estar (está) with the gerund of ser (siendo) and a past participle (esterilizado). It translates directly to "is being [done]" and is used to emphasize that a passive action is currently in progress.
Could we use the passive se here instead of está siendo?
You definitely could (e.g., todo se está esterilizando). In everyday Latin American Spanish, the passive se is actually much more common. However, the analytical passive with está siendo is used when you want to strongly emphasize the ongoing, step-by-step nature of the process, which fits well in formal or medical contexts like this one.
Why do esterilizado and desinfectado end in -o?
In the analytical passive voice, the past participle acts like an adjective and must agree in gender and number with the subject receiving the action. Here, the subject is todo (everything). When todo is used as a standalone pronoun, it is treated as grammatically masculine and singular, so the participles take the masculine singular -o ending.
Could I say no es peligroso instead of no hay peligro?