Breakdown of Aprender en grupo tiene muchas ventajas y también algunas desventajas.
Questions & Answers about Aprender en grupo tiene muchas ventajas y también algunas desventajas.
In Spanish, the infinitive (here Aprender) can act like a noun, similar to English “-ing” forms.
- Aprender en grupo tiene muchas ventajas…
= Learning in a group has many advantages…
You do not use aprendiendo in this position. Aprendiendo is a gerund used more like:
- Estoy aprendiendo en grupo. – I am learning in a group.
So when the verb is the subject of the sentence (“Learning in a group…”), Spanish normally uses the infinitive, not the gerund.
En grupo here means “in a group / in groups / as a group” in a general way, not one specific, concrete group.
- Aprender en grupo ≈ to learn in group settings / to learn with others.
If you say en un grupo, it sounds more like one particular group:
- Aprender en un grupo pequeño es más fácil.
Learning in a small group is easier. (a specific kind of group)
In general statements about how something is usually done, Spanish often omits the article:
- Trabajar en equipo es importante. – Working in a team is important.
- Conducir de noche es peligroso. – Driving at night is dangerous.
The subject of the verb tiene is the entire phrase Aprender en grupo, which is singular:
- Aprender en grupo → one activity / one idea → 3rd person singular
- So you use tiene (he/she/it has), not tienen (they have).
Even though ventajas and desventajas are plural nouns, they are objects of tiene, not the subject.
In Spanish, adjectives (including mucho/mucha/muchos/muchas) must agree with the gender and number of the noun.
- ventaja is feminine singular → la ventaja
- ventajas is feminine plural → las ventajas
So you need the feminine plural form of mucho:
- mucha ventaja – a lot of advantage (singular)
- ✅ muchas ventajas – many advantages (plural, feminine)
- ❌ muchos ventajas – incorrect, gender mismatch
Yes, desventajas means “disadvantages / downsides / drawbacks.”
It’s built from:
- ventaja – advantage
- des- – a common prefix meaning “the opposite, removal, or lack of”
So desventaja is the opposite of ventaja. This pattern appears in other words too:
- hacer (to do) → deshacer (to undo)
- conectar (to connect) → desconectar (to disconnect)
All three are possible, but they have slightly different nuances:
- algunas desventajas – some disadvantages, suggesting not many / a limited number. It often softens the idea a little.
- desventajas (with no article or determiner) – disadvantages in general, more neutral:
- Tiene desventajas. – It has disadvantages.
- unas desventajas – grammatically correct but less common; it can sound more like “a few / several particular disadvantages” and is usually used when you then specify them.
In your sentence, algunas desventajas nicely balances muchas ventajas and keeps the tone moderate: many advantages, but only some disadvantages.
Yes. También (also/too) is quite flexible in position; the meaning stays essentially the same, but the focus changes slightly.
Original:
- Aprender en grupo tiene muchas ventajas y también algunas desventajas.
→ Emphasizes that in addition to advantages, there are some disadvantages.
Variant:
- Aprender en grupo también tiene algunas desventajas.
→ Focuses on the fact that this thing too (learning in a group) has some disadvantages, maybe compared with something else that already has disadvantages.
Other grammatical placements:
- También aprender en grupo tiene desventajas. (possible, with emphasis on learning in a group as an additional item in a list)
- Aprender en grupo tiene también algunas desventajas. (slightly more formal or emphatic)
All are correct; the original is the most neutral and natural-sounding in isolation.
Yes, both are correct but they feel a bit different:
Aprender en grupo tiene muchas ventajas…
→ Uses a verb infinitive as the subject. Very common, direct, and slightly more informal / natural.El aprendizaje en grupo tiene muchas ventajas…
→ Uses a noun (el aprendizaje = “the learning”). Sounds a bit more formal or academic, like something from an article or essay.
Meaning-wise, they are almost the same: “Group learning has many advantages…” vs “Learning in a group has many advantages…”
Not exactly:
en grupo
– general: in a group setting / as a group
– Focus: doing something together, not alone.en equipo
– literally “as a team”
– Often used in work or sports contexts, with a sense of cooperation / teamwork.en grupos
– “in groups” (plural)
– Often used when talking about organizing people:- Vamos a trabajar en grupos de cuatro. – We’re going to work in groups of four.
In your sentence, Aprender en grupo suggests the general idea of not learning alone, but with other people. You could also say Aprender en equipo in some contexts, but en grupo is more neutral and common here.
In standard peninsular Spanish:
tiene → [TYEH-neh]
- ti like “tye” in “tye-neh” (not exactly “tee”)
- Stress on tie: TIE-ne
ventajas → [ben-TAH-has]
- v is pronounced like a soft b: [b]
- j is a strong guttural sound, like the ch in German “Bach” or Scottish “loch”
- Stress on ta: ben-TA-jas
desventajas → [des-ben-TAH-has]
- Again, v ≈ b, j is guttural
- Stress on ta: des-ben-TA-jas
There is no lisp sound here because there is no z or c before e/i in these words.