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¿Qué tan peligroso es usar la motosierra?

¿Qué tan peligroso es usar la motosierra?
How dangerous is using the chainsaw?
From Lesson 444:Interrogatives of degree (qué tan)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about ¿Qué tan peligroso es usar la motosierra?

How does qué tan work here to mean "how dangerous"?
In Latin America, combining qué tan with an adjective (like peligroso) or an adverb is the standard way to ask "how [adjective/adverb]" to measure degree. While English just uses "how" for this, Spanish uses qué tan, which translates roughly to "what so".
Why is peligroso masculine singular when motosierra is feminine?
The adjective peligroso describes the entire action of using the chainsaw (usar la motosierra), not the chainsaw itself. When an infinitive verb phrase acts as a noun, Spanish always treats it as masculine singular.
Why does the Spanish sentence use the infinitive usar instead of a gerund like usando for "using"?
In English, we often use the -ing form (gerund) as a noun, like "using" in this sentence. However, in Spanish, you cannot use the -ando or -iendo forms as nouns. You must always use the infinitive when a verb is the subject of a sentence.
What makes up the word motosierra?
It is a compound word made from moto (motor) and sierra (saw). Because sierra is a feminine noun, the combined word motosierra is also feminine, which is why it takes the article la.

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