O objetivo da professora é que todos façam perguntas sem medo.

The teacher’s goal is that everyone asks questions without fear.

Breakdown of O objetivo da professora é que todos façam perguntas sem medo.

• ser: to be
• sem: without
• que: that
• a professora: the teacher
• todos: everyone
• da: of
• o objetivo: the goal
• fazer perguntas: to ask questions
• o medo: the fear

Questions & Answers about O objetivo da professora é que todos façam perguntas sem medo.

What does da in da professora mean, and why is it written as one word?

Da is a contraction of de + a:

• de = of / from
• a = the (feminine singular)

So da professora literally means “of the (female) teacher”.

Portuguese almost always contracts de + a / o / as / os:

• do = de + o → of the (masc. sing.)
• da = de + a → of the (fem. sing.)
• dos = de + os → of the (masc. pl.)
• das = de + as → of the (fem. pl.)

You cannot write de a professora; it must be da professora.

Why is it professora and not professor?

Portuguese marks grammatical gender on many nouns that refer to people:

• professor = (male) teacher
• professora = (female) teacher

Because the teacher here is understood to be female, the feminine form professora is used.

If the teacher were male, the sentence would be:

• O objetivo do professor é que todos façam perguntas sem medo.

Why does the sentence start with O objetivo and not just Objetivo?

Portuguese uses definite articles more often than English.

• O objetivo = the goal / the objective

We’re talking about a specific goal (the teacher’s goal), so o (the) is used.

Leaving out the article (Objetivo da professora…) would sound like a title or a note in a list, not like a normal sentence.

What is the role of é que in é que todos façam perguntas? Is it like English “is that”?

Here, é que is simply:

• é = is (3rd person singular of ser)
• que = a conjunction meaning that

So the structure is:

• O objetivo da professora é que…
  The teacher’s goal is that…

This que introduces a subordinate clause (que todos façam perguntas…).

In English you’d usually say “The teacher’s goal is for everyone to ask questions…” rather than “is that everyone ask…”, but the structure is similar.

You cannot drop que here in standard Portuguese; O objetivo da professora é todos façam perguntas is ungrammatical.

Why is it façam and not fazem?

Façam is in the present subjunctive, not the present indicative.

• fazem = they do / they make (present indicative – stating a fact)
• façam = (that) they do / make (present subjunctive – used for wishes, goals, doubts, etc.)

Expressions of goal, wish, or intention normally trigger the subjunctive in Portuguese.
O objetivo da professora é que… is expressing what she wants to happen, not what is already happening, so the subordinate verb takes the subjunctive:

• é que todos façam perguntas
  is that everyone (should) ask questions

Exactly what form is façam, and how is fazer conjugated in the present subjunctive?

Façam is:

• verb: fazer (to do / to make)
• tense/mood: present subjunctive
• person/number: 3rd person plural (they)

Present subjunctive of fazer:

• (que) eu faça
• (que) tu faças
• (que) ele / ela / você faça
• (que) nós façamos
• (que) vós façais (rare in modern speech)
• (que) eles / elas / vocês façam

In the sentence, todos refers to they, so you use façam.

Why is it todos and not todas? What exactly does todos mean here?

Todos is masculine plural and literally means “all (of them)” or “everyone”.

In Portuguese, the masculine plural is used as the default for mixed-gender groups or when gender is not specified. So:

• todos = all / everyone (mixed or not specified)
• todas = all / everyone (only females)

So que todos façam perguntas = “that everyone ask questions.”
If we knew the group was exclusively female, you could say que todas façam perguntas.

Why is perguntas in the plural? Could it be façam uma pergunta instead?

Perguntas is the plural of pergunta (question):

• façam perguntas = (that they) ask questions (in general, any number)
• façam uma pergunta = (that they) ask one question each / one question

Using the plural perguntas matches the broad idea: the teacher wants them to feel free to ask questions (not just one).

Both are grammatically correct; the nuance is just general questions vs one question.

What does sem medo literally mean, and why isn’t it sem o medo?

Literally:

• sem = without
• medo = fear

So sem medo = without fear.

In Portuguese, with abstract, uncountable nouns like medo, you normally omit the article in this kind of expression:

• sem medo = without fear
• com medo = with fear / afraid
• sem vergonha = without shame
• sem pressa = without hurry

Sem o medo would sound odd and overly specific (as if referring to some particular, already-mentioned fear). The natural idiomatic expression is sem medo.

Could we say O objetivo da professora é que todos perguntem sem medo instead? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say:

• O objetivo da professora é que todos perguntem sem medo.

Here perguntar (to ask) is used directly as a verb, in the subjunctive perguntem.

Difference in nuance:

• façam perguntas = literally “make/do questions” → ask questions (as an activity)
• perguntem = “(that they) ask” (verb used without an explicit object)

Both are perfectly correct and natural. Façam perguntas slightly emphasizes the act of asking questions as something ongoing or habitual; perguntem feels a bit more direct.

Could we say O objetivo da professora é que todos façam perguntas sem terem medo? Is that wrong?

That version is also grammatically correct:

• … que todos façam perguntas sem medo.
• … que todos façam perguntas sem terem medo.

Both mean essentially “that everyone ask questions without being afraid.”

• sem medo = without fear (a fixed expression, more compact)
• sem terem medo = without them having fear (literally)
  Here terem is the infinitive of ter (to have), inflected for they.

The original version with sem medo is more common, shorter, and more idiomatic in everyday speech.

Why is it é que todos façam perguntas and not é para que todos façam perguntas?

You could say either, but there is a subtle difference:

• O objetivo da professora é que todos façam perguntas sem medo.
  The teacher’s goal is that everyone ask questions without fear.

• O objetivo da professora é para que todos façam perguntas sem medo.
  More literally, The teacher’s goal is in order that everyone ask questions…

É que + subjunctive is the most natural pattern with objetivo here.
É para que is more explicitly “in order that / so that” and can sound a bit more formal or slightly heavier in style. In everyday speech, the first version is more common.

Is the word order fixed, or could we move sem medo earlier in the sentence?

Word order in Portuguese is fairly flexible, especially for adverbial phrases like sem medo.

All of these are grammatical, with only small changes in emphasis:

• O objetivo da professora é que todos façam perguntas sem medo.
• O objetivo da professora é que todos, sem medo, façam perguntas.
• O objetivo da professora é que, sem medo, todos façam perguntas.

Keeping sem medo at the end (…façam perguntas sem medo) is the most natural and neutral version. Moving it earlier can sound slightly more formal or emphatic, highlighting “without fear”.