Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Mi profesor dice la verdad incluso cuando es difícil. - My teacher tells the truth even when it is difficult.

In Spanish, when you talk about people who are personally related to you (family members, teachers, etc.), you normally use a possessive adjective (mi, tu, su, nuestro…) rather than the definite article:

mi profesor = my teacher
el profesor = the teacher (some teacher in general, not necessarily yours)

So mi profesor is the natural way to say my teacher. El profesor dice la verdad would sound like you’re talking about some specific teacher everyone already knows about, not necessarily yours.

Why profesor and not profesora?

Spanish nouns have grammatical gender.

profesor = male teacher
profesora = female teacher

You use the form that matches the person’s gender:

If your teacher is a man: Mi profesor dice la verdad…
If your teacher is a woman: Mi profesora dice la verdad…

In writing aimed at both genders, you might see forms like profesor/a, profesor o profesora, or inclusive forms, but in ordinary speech you just pick profesor or profesora.

What is the difference between dice and something like habla or cuenta here?

All three involve speaking, but they are not interchangeable:

decir (here: dice) = to say / to tell
- Focuses on the content: the information, the message.
- Dice la verdad = He/She tells the truth.
hablar (habla) = to speak / to talk
- Focus is on the act of speaking, not necessarily on what is said.
- Habla mucho = He/She talks a lot.
contar (cuenta) = to tell (a story, an anecdote, an account) or to count
- Often implies narrating something.
- Cuenta historias = He/She tells stories.

Since the idea is that the teacher tells the truth (says truthful things), decir is the correct verb: Mi profesor dice la verdad…

Why is it dice (present tense) and not something like está diciendo?

The simple present in Spanish is used much more broadly than in English. It often expresses:

habits or general truths
characteristics of a person
repeated or typical behavior

Here, Mi profesor dice la verdad describes a general trait or habit of the teacher, not something happening only right now.

Está diciendo la verdad would refer to what the teacher is saying at this moment:

Mi profesor está diciendo la verdad = My teacher is (right now) telling the truth.

But the sentence is about what he/she always does, so the simple present dice is the natural choice.

Why do we say la verdad and not just verdad?

In Spanish, abstract nouns often take the definite article el / la where English uses no article:

la verdad = the truth
la libertad = freedom
la paciencia = patience

In many contexts, la verdad is the normal way to say the truth in a general sense.

Saying just dice verdad is not natural Spanish here. You might say Es verdad (It’s true) without an article, but when it’s a direct object like this, you usually say dice la verdad.

What does incluso mean here, and could I use hasta or aun instead?

Incluso means roughly even (in the sense of even when…).

incluso cuando es difícil = even when it’s difficult

In many contexts, in Spain you could also hear:

hasta cuando es difícil
aun cuando es difícil

All three can mean even when, though there are slight nuances and regional preferences:

incluso is quite neutral and clear, good in both speech and writing.
hasta in this sense is more colloquial in some regions.
aun (without accent) can mean even, but can be confused in writing with aún (still), so learners often stick with incluso.

So your sentence with incluso is very natural and standard.

Why is it cuando es difícil and not cuando sea difícil (subjunctive)?

Both cuando es difícil and cuando sea difícil are grammatically possible, but they suggest different things:

cuando es difícil (indicative)
- Used for habitual or general situations.
- Here it means: in those times when it is difficult (as a repeated, known situation).
- It presents the difficulty as something real and typical.
cuando sea difícil (subjunctive)
- Often used for future, uncertain, or hypothetical situations: when(ever) it might be difficult / when it becomes difficult.
- This would sound more like talking about future occasions or a condition, not an already known trait.

Because the sentence is describing a characteristic of your teacher (he habitually tells the truth even in difficult moments), the indicative (es) is the best choice.

What exactly is “difficult” in cuando es difícil? The truth? The situation? Saying it?

Spanish leaves it implicit, just like English does in even when it’s difficult.

Usually the interpretation is:

It is difficult to tell the truth in that situation: maybe the truth could hurt someone, cause problems, be uncomfortable, etc.

Grammatically, es difícil is a general impersonal statement. The understood idea is:

Mi profesor dice la verdad incluso cuando (decir la verdad) es difícil.

Spanish doesn’t need to repeat decir la verdad; it’s understood from context.

Can I change the word order, for example: Mi profesor, incluso cuando es difícil, dice la verdad?

Yes. Spanish word order is quite flexible. All of these are correct, with slightly different emphasis:

Mi profesor dice la verdad incluso cuando es difícil.
- Neutral, most common.
Mi profesor, incluso cuando es difícil, dice la verdad.
- Slight pause around the clause; stylistically a bit more emphatic in writing or careful speech.
Incluso cuando es difícil, mi profesor dice la verdad.
- Emphasizes the condition first: Even when it’s difficult, my teacher tells the truth.

All keep the same basic meaning.

Is this sentence specifically “Spain Spanish” (español de España) in any way?

Grammatically and lexically, the sentence is neutral and works in Spain and Latin America.

The main differences in Spain would be:

Pronunciation: dice is usually pronounced with /θ/ (like English th in think): [ˈdiθe], not [ˈdise].
Vocabulary note: in everyday speech in Spain, many people say profe (informal) instead of profesor/profesora:
- Mi profe dice la verdad…

But Mi profesor dice la verdad incluso cuando es difícil is perfectly natural in Spain.

Is there a more informal or more formal way to say this?

More informal:

Mi profe siempre dice la verdad, incluso cuando es difícil.
- profe = colloquial for profesor/profesora
- adding siempre makes the idea of habit very explicit.

More formal / slightly more literary:

Mi profesor siempre dice la verdad, incluso en las situaciones más difíciles.
- My teacher always tells the truth, even in the most difficult situations.

Your original sentence is already neutral and natural in most contexts.