Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Mi profesora es muy responsable y paciente con los principiantes. - My teacher is very responsible and patient with beginners.

Mi profesora means “my teacher”, emphasizing that she is your teacher.
La profesora would be “the teacher”, referring to some teacher already known from context, not specifically “mine”.

Spanish often uses possessive adjectives (mi, tu, su, etc.) for family members and people who have a close relationship to you (like teachers, doctors, friends). So mi profesora is the natural choice if you’re talking about your teacher.

Why profesora and not profesor?

Spanish nouns for professions usually agree with the gender of the person:

el profesor = male teacher
la profesora = female teacher

Since the sentence uses profesora (ending in -a), it’s talking about a female teacher. You wouldn’t normally use mi profesor to refer to a woman; you’d change it to the feminine form mi profesora.

Why is it es and not está?

Both ser (es) and estar (está) translate to “to be”, but they’re used differently:

ser is used for essential or characteristic traits (what someone is like)
estar is used for temporary states or conditions (how someone is at the moment)

Being responsable y paciente are considered character traits of the teacher, not just temporary moods. So Spanish uses es, from ser:

Mi profesora es muy responsable y paciente.
→ She is a responsible and patient person (as a general description).

If you said:

Mi profesora está muy paciente hoy.
→ “My teacher is being very patient today” (unusually patient right now).

Why don’t responsable and paciente change their endings for the feminine profesora?

In Spanish, many adjectives do change form for masculine/feminine:

responsable (no change)
trabajador / trabajadora
alto / alta

But adjectives that end in -e (like responsable, paciente) usually have one form for both genders in the singular:

un profesor responsable
una profesora responsable
un profesor paciente
una profesora paciente

So they do agree in gender and number, but their shape doesn’t change in the singular. For plural, they just add -s:

profesores responsables / profesoras responsables
profesores pacientes / profesoras pacientes

Why is there only one muy before both adjectives? Does muy modify both responsable and paciente?

Yes. In:

muy responsable y paciente

the muy naturally applies to both adjectives:
→ very responsible and (very) patient.

You can repeat it:

Mi profesora es muy responsable y muy paciente.

This is also correct and can sound a bit more emphatic or rhythmic, but everyday speech often uses muy once when the two adjectives are joined with y.

Why are the adjectives placed after es and not right after profesora?

There are two common patterns:

Subject + ser + adjective(s) (like English “She is kind”):
- Mi profesora es muy responsable y paciente.
Here, responsable and paciente are predicative adjectives (they describe the subject via the verb “to be”).
Noun + adjective directly:
- Mi profesora, muy responsable y paciente, siempre nos ayuda.
- Es una profesora muy responsable y paciente.

Your sentence uses pattern 1, which is completely normal and very close to English structure. Spanish does often put adjectives after nouns, but with ser, adjectives usually come after the verb, just like here.

Why is it con los principiantes and not para los principiantes or a los principiantes?

The preposition con here means “with”, in the sense of how she behaves toward beginners:

ser paciente con alguien = to be patient with someone

So:

Es paciente con los principiantes.
→ She is patient with beginners.

Using other prepositions would change the meaning:

para los principiantes = for beginners (aimed at them, designed for them)
- e.g. Un curso para principiantes = a course for beginners.
a los principiantes here would be odd; you might see it in other structures, like enseñar a los principiantes (to teach beginners).

For “patient with beginners,” Spanish idiomatically uses con.

Why do we say los principiantes and not just principiantes, or las principiantes?

Why the article “los”?
Spanish almost always uses a definite article when talking about a group in general:
- Los principiantes = beginners (as a group in general)
- Los niños necesitan dormir. = Children need to sleep.
Saying con principiantes (without article) is not wrong but sounds less natural and more “bare” or technical; con los principiantes is the default sounding option in everyday speech when you mean beginners as a group.
Why “los” and not “las”?
Spanish uses the masculine plural as the generic form when:
- the group is mixed (men and women), or
- you’re speaking about beginners in general, without specifying gender.

If the group is explicitly all female, you could say:

con las principiantes = with (female) beginners

But if you mean “beginners” generally, los principiantes is standard.

Is principiantes a noun here or an adjective?

In this sentence, principiantes is a noun:

los principiantes = “the beginners”

The word principiante can function as:

an adjective:
- un estudiante principiante = a beginner student
or a noun:
- un principiante = a beginner

Here, since it’s preceded by the article los and stands alone, it’s clearly used as a noun.

Could I say maestra instead of profesora in Spain?

You could, but there are nuance and regional differences:

In Spain, for school teachers, the more usual word in everyday speech is profesor/profesora.
Maestro/maestra is also understood and used, but it can sound a bit more formal, traditional, or literary, or may be used for primary-school teachers in particular contexts.

So in Spain, Mi profesora es muy responsable y paciente sounds the most neutral and natural for “my teacher” (especially from secondary school upward).
In many parts of Latin America, maestra/maestro is more widely used for school teachers.

Why is it y and not e before paciente?

Spanish changes y to e when the next word starts with the sound “i” (i- or hi-), to make pronunciation easier:

padres e hijos (not y hijos)
agua e hielo

But paciente starts with pa-, not with an i/hi sound, so the normal conjunction y is used:

responsable y paciente

You only use e when the next word begins with the “ee” sound (i, hi + vowel), not just any consonant or vowel.