Breakdown of Jugar con diez personas es una gran desventaja.
ser
to be
grande
big
con
with / just by (+ -ing)
un
a, an, some
diez
ten
jugar
to play
la persona
the person
la desventaja
the disadvantage
Questions & Answers about Jugar con diez personas es una gran desventaja.
The current lesson is about gerunds, so why does this sentence use the infinitive jugar instead of the gerund jugando for "Playing"?
In English, we often use words ending in "-ing" (gerunds) as the subject of a sentence, like "Playing is a disadvantage." However, in Spanish, the gerund (jugando) is only used for continuous, ongoing actions (like "I am playing"). When a verb acts as a noun and the subject of a sentence, Spanish always uses the infinitive (jugar).
Why is it gran desventaja instead of grande desventaja?
Could I say diez gente instead of diez personas?
No, because gente (people) is an uncountable collective noun in Spanish. It is treated as a singular group, so you cannot attach a specific number to it. Whenever you are counting individual people, you must use the plural noun personas.
Does putting gran before desventaja change the meaning compared to putting it after?
Yes, slightly. When gran is placed before the noun, it typically means "great" or "significant" in a figurative or abstract sense. Placed after the noun (una desventaja grande), it tends to refer to physical size, which sounds a bit awkward when talking about an abstract concept like a disadvantage. Therefore, una gran desventaja is much more natural here.
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