Thread: опасный -> безопасный -> небезопасный -> superfluous?

опасный
безопасный
небезопасный


Just trying to break it down, isn't that a bit useless to have a double negation? "небезопасный"?


It's like saying "not unsafe"... which we never use in English, we just say "dangerous", or "not dangerous". "safe", or "not safe".

небезопасный - not so safe.
Usually опасный is more dangerous than небезопасный.

It's like saying "not unsafe"... which we never use in English, we just say "dangerous", or "not dangerous". "safe", or "not safe".

Actually, there is a gray area, between safe and not safe. There you will find lurking the 'not unsafe'.

небезопасный - 'not without danger' makes good sense for some things.

опасный is 100% dangerous with no exceptions

небезопасный has potential of being dangerous but is not unequivocally dangerous

Originally Posted by Seraph

небезопасный - 'not without danger'

spot on translation, bull's eye

Originally Posted by Seraph

Actually, there is a gray area, between safe and not safe. There you will find lurking the 'not unsafe'.

Exactly right. "Not unsafe" implies "not inherently dangerous, but possibly there's a risk of danger if one lacks common sense, etc." Like, if a boy wants a skateboard and his mother is against it because she fears he'll break his neck, you could say to her "Skateboarding is not unsafe IF your son wears proper protective gear and goes to a neighborhood skateboard-park instead of riding in the streets."

Or simply driving. You can do everything right. No problems for a long time. And then someone rear-ends or t-bones you.

I like the definition "not without danger"...for me it clears it up

Originally Posted by Valda

опасный
безопасный
небезопасный


Just trying to break it down, isn't that a bit useless to have a double negation? "небезопасный"?


It's like saying "not unsafe"... which we never use in English, we just say "dangerous", or "not dangerous". "safe", or "not safe".

Except that we do use phrases like "not unsafe" and the like all the time in English, because the double negation adds a subtle extra meaning not present in a straightforward declarative sentence.

опасный=dangerous

небезопасный=not safe