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

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

• na: in the
• que: that
• o professor: the teacher

Questions & Answers about O professor explica que o gênero não importa na sala de aula.

What is the function of que in explica que o gênero não importa? Is it like that in English, and can it be left out?

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….

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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.

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