Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Brazil): O professor explica que o gênero não importa na sala de aula. - The teacher explains that gender does not matter in the classroom.

Que here is a conjunction meaning that. It introduces the subordinate clause o gênero não importa (literally: the gender does not matter).

O professor explica que o gênero não importa.
= The teacher explains that gender doesn’t matter.

Unlike English, in Portuguese you cannot normally drop this que. In English you can say:

The teacher explains (that) gender doesn’t matter.

But in Portuguese, *O professor explica o gênero não importa is ungrammatical. You must say explica que….

Why is it o professor and not um professor? What’s the difference?

O professor = the teacher (a specific teacher, or a generic category using the definite article).
Um professor = a teacher (one teacher, non‑specific).

In Brazilian Portuguese, the definite article o is often used even when English might use the general, bare noun teachers:

O professor explica que…
This can mean:
- The teacher explains that… (a particular teacher) or
- A teacher explains that… / Teachers explain that… in a more generic sense.

Using um professor would sound more like you’re talking about one random/unspecified teacher, not necessarily a general rule of teaching.

How would the sentence change if the teacher is a woman? Is there a gender‑neutral option for professor?

For a female teacher, you change the noun and the article:

A professora explica que o gênero não importa na sala de aula.
(professora is the feminine form; a is the feminine article.)

Gender‑neutral options in real usage are still evolving. Common possibilities:

A pessoa professora explica que… (awkward, but used in some activist/academic contexts)
O docente / A docente explica que… (from docente, a more formal, often gender‑neutral term in writing)
In speech, people often just choose o professor or a professora according to the actual person.

There’s no widely accepted single, natural gender‑neutral noun for professor in everyday Brazilian Portuguese yet.

Why does the sentence use o gênero, with the article, instead of just gênero?

In Portuguese, abstract nouns are very often used with a definite article:

O gênero não importa.
A liberdade é importante. (Freedom is important.)
A violência é um problema. (Violence is a problem.)

So o gênero here means gender in general, not one specific gender. Using the article makes it sound natural and complete in Portuguese. Saying just gênero não importa is understandable, but it sounds more telegraphic or stylistic, not like a neutral, standard sentence.

What does gênero mean here? Is it grammatical gender or gender identity?

Gênero in Portuguese can mean both:

Grammatical gender (masculine/feminine/neuter in language), and
Gender in the sociocultural sense (man, woman, non‑binary, etc.).

In this sentence:

O professor explica que o gênero não importa na sala de aula.

Most likely it refers to social / personal gender:
The teacher explains that gender doesn’t matter in the classroom (i.e., you are treated equally regardless of being a boy, girl, non‑binary, etc.).

Context would make it fully clear. If the topic were grammar, then it could mean grammatical gender.

Why is it não importa and not não é importante? What’s the difference?

Both are possible but they don’t feel exactly the same:

não importa = doesn’t matter / is of no importance / is irrelevant
não é importante = is not important

Subtle difference:

não importa sounds more idiomatic and conversational when you mean It doesn’t matter / It’s not a factor.
não é importante can sound like you’re judging the degree of importance more abstractly.

Here, o gênero não importa na sala de aula is very natural:
Gender is not something that matters in the classroom context.

Why is the verb importa in the present indicative and not in the subjunctive (importe)?

The verb importa is in the present indicative because explicar que (to explain that) is not a trigger for the subjunctive in Portuguese. The teacher is presenting something as a fact:

O professor explica que o gênero não importa…
= The teacher states/explains as a fact that gender doesn’t matter.

You would use the subjunctive (importe) with verbs that express doubt, desire, emotion, possibility, etc., for example:

Duvido que o gênero importe.
= I doubt that gender matters.

So:

explica que → indicative (importa)
duvida que / é possível que / é bom que → often subjunctive (importe)

What does na in na sala de aula mean exactly?

Na is a contraction of the preposition em (in/on/at) + the feminine article a (the):

em
- a → na
na sala de aula = in the classroom

So:

em + o → no (masculine)
em + a → na (feminine)
em + os → nos
em + as → nas

Because sala is feminine (a sala), you get na sala.

Why is it sala de aula and not something like sala da aula or just aula?

sala de aula literally: room of class, i.e., classroom.
It is a fixed expression: a sala de aula = the classroom.

Structure:

sala (room)
de (of)
aula (lesson/class)

De is used here in a noun–noun combination, similar to English X room:

sala de jantar = dining room
sala de estar = living room
sala de aula = classroom

Sala da aula (with da = de + a) would mean the room of the specific lesson, and is not the standard way to say classroom.

You could also say:

na aula = in class / during the lesson (focusing on the event, not the physical room)
e.g., O professor explica que o gênero não importa na aula.
= The teacher explains during the class that gender doesn’t matter.

Is the word order fixed, or can I move na sala de aula to the front?

Portuguese word order is flexible. All of these are grammatically correct:

O professor explica que o gênero não importa na sala de aula.
O professor explica que, na sala de aula, o gênero não importa.
Na sala de aula, o professor explica que o gênero não importa.

Differences are mostly about emphasis and style:

Version 1 is the most neutral and common.
Version 2 emphasizes in the classroom slightly more.
Version 3 puts strong emphasis on the classroom as the context.

Why isn’t there a subject pronoun like ele (he) before explica?

Portuguese is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns are often omitted when the subject is clear from context or from the verb form.

Here, o professor is the subject:

O professor explica…
You do not say Ele o professor explica… (that’s wrong).

You could say:

Ele explica que o gênero não importa na sala de aula.
= He explains that gender doesn’t matter in the classroom.

But then you normally wouldn’t also repeat o professor in the same position. You choose either:

O professor explica…
or
Ele explica…

not both together.

How do you pronounce gênero and não?

Approximate Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation (IPA and tips):

gênero → /ˈʒẽ.ne.ɾu/
- gê: like French je, or English zh
  - nasal e
- stress on the first syllable: GÊ-ne-ro
- r between vowels is a light r (like American tt in water, in many accents).
não → /nɐ̃w̃/ (varies by region)
- The ã is a nasal vowel.
- The final o in ão is not a full o sound; it glides off the nasal ã, something like English now but nasal and shorter.

Together in the phrase:

o gênero não importa → roughly: oo ZHEH-ne-ro now̃ im-POR-ta (with nasal ão).

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral?

The sentence is neutral in register:

O professor explica que o gênero não importa na sala de aula.

It would sound perfectly natural:

In a school context
In written texts (articles, educational material)
In spoken conversation about education

It’s neither slangy nor very formal; it’s standard, educated Brazilian Portuguese.