Breakdown of Por un lado, una desventaja de manejar es gastar mucho combustible.
ser
to be
de
from / of
un
a, an (masculine)
una
a, an (feminine)
mucho
many / a lot
manejar
to drive
por
for / by / through / in/during (part of the day)
gastar
to spend
el lado
side
el combustible
fuel
la desventaja
disadvantage
Questions & Answers about Por un lado, una desventaja de manejar es gastar mucho combustible.
What is the purpose of starting the sentence with por un lado?
Por un lado translates to "on the one hand." It is a discourse connector used to organize your thoughts when presenting multiple points or sides of an argument. When you use this phrase, the listener will expect you to follow it up later in the conversation with por otro lado (on the other hand) or en cambio (however / on the other hand) to introduce a contrasting point or a second opinion.
Why does the sentence use the infinitive verbs manejar and gastar instead of the "-ing" forms like manejando?
In Spanish, when a verb acts as a noun to describe a concept—like "driving" or "using"—you must use the infinitive (manejar, gastar). Furthermore, any verb that comes directly after a preposition like de must be in the infinitive. The Spanish "-ing" form (-ando / -iendo) is strictly used to show an action is currently in progress, never as a noun.
Doesn't gastar usually mean "to spend"? Why is it translated as "using" fuel here?
While gastar is the standard word for spending money, it broadly means to "consume," "wear out," or "use up" a resource. Therefore, phrases like gastar combustible (consuming fuel), gastar energía (using energy), and gastar agua (using or wasting water) are extremely common in Spanish.
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