La profesora sospecha que una estudiante fingía estar enferma para no hacer el examen.

In Spanish, professions and roles often take the definite article when you are talking about a specific person:

• la profesora = the teacher
• el médico = the doctor
• la directora = the headteacher / principal

So La profesora sospecha... means The teacher suspects...

You would usually leave out the article after verbs like ser:

• Es profesora = She is a teacher

But here, la profesora is the subject of the sentence, so the article is normal.

Una estudiante means a student / one student, not a specific student already identified.

So the sentence suggests:

• the teacher suspects some student
• or one particular student, but she is being introduced as new information

If it said la estudiante, that would mean the student, as if both speaker and listener already knew exactly which student was being talked about.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Here, the most natural meaning is:

• a student

But Spanish un/una can also sometimes emphasize one:

• una estudiante = one student

In this sentence, it probably just means a student, unless the context is contrasting her with other students.

Estudiante is a noun with the same form for both masculine and feminine. The gender is shown by the article and sometimes by adjectives:

• el estudiante = the male student
• la estudiante = the female student
• un estudiante
• una estudiante

In your sentence, una and enferma tell you the student is female.

Because enferma agrees with the person being described, and that person is una estudiante (female).

So:

• un estudiante enfermo = a sick male student
• una estudiante enferma = a sick female student

Even though estar is in the infinitive, the adjective still agrees with the subject of that infinitive phrase.

Que introduces the clause that explains what the teacher suspects.

• La profesora sospecha = The teacher suspects
• que una estudiante fingía estar enferma = that a student was pretending to be ill

This is very common in Spanish:

• Creo que... = I think that...
• Dice que... = She says that...
• Sospecha que... = She suspects that...

This is a very common learner question. The sentence uses the imperfect (fingía) rather than the preterite (fingió) because the pretending is seen as:

• ongoing,
• in progress,
• or background to the main situation.

So fingía estar enferma suggests something like:

• was pretending to be ill
• used to pretend to be ill (depending on context)

If you said fingió, it would sound more like a completed event:

• pretended / did pretend

In this sentence, the imperfect fits well because the focus is on the situation surrounding the exam, not just on a single completed act.

Because the main verb and the subordinate verb refer to different times:

• sospecha = present → the teacher suspects now
• fingía = past imperfect → the pretending happened in the past

So the sentence means:

• Now, the teacher suspects
• that earlier, a student was pretending to be ill

This mix of present + past is completely normal in Spanish.

Both patterns exist, but they are slightly different in structure.

1. fingir + infinitive

• fingía estar enferma
• literally: was pretending to be ill

This is very common and compact.

2. fingir que + clause

• fingía que estaba enferma
• literally: was pretending that she was ill

This is also correct.

In many cases, both are possible. The version with the infinitive often sounds a bit more direct and natural here.

Because enfermo/enferma normally describes a temporary condition, so Spanish uses estar:

• estar enfermo/a = to be ill / sick

Ser is generally used for more permanent or defining characteristics. Saying ser enferma would usually sound wrong here.

So:

• está enferma = she is ill
• fingía estar enferma = she was pretending to be ill

Para expresses purpose:

• para hacer algo = in order to do something
• para no hacer algo = in order not to do something

So:

• para no hacer el examen = so as not to take/do the exam

The idea is that the student pretended to be ill with the purpose of avoiding the exam.

Because no negates the infinitive phrase:

• hacer el examen = to do/take the exam
• no hacer el examen = not to do/take the exam

After para, Spanish commonly uses an infinitive, and if it is negative, no comes directly before that infinitive:

• para estudiar = in order to study
• para no estudiar = in order not to study

Yes, different verbs are used in different varieties of Spanish.

In Spain, hacer un examen is very common and natural. It can mean:

• to take an exam
• literally to do an exam

Other verbs exist, but they may sound regional or mean different things:

• hacer un examen = sit/take an exam
• poner un examen = set/give an exam (teacher)
• corregir un examen = mark/grade an exam

So for Spanish from Spain, no hacer el examen is a very natural choice.

El examen suggests a specific exam that both speaker and listener can identify from context, for example:

• the exam the class had that day
• the exam the student was supposed to take

If it said un examen, it would sound more general:

• an exam

So el examen is likely referring to a particular exam.

Not here. After sospechar que, Spanish often uses the indicative when the speaker presents the suspicion as a real possibility or as information being asserted.

So:

• Sospecha que fingía = She suspects that she was pretending

The subjunctive is more common after negation or in other contexts of doubt:

• No sospecha que fingiera/fingiese...
• Dudo que...
• No creo que...

For learners, a useful rule is:

• affirmative sospechar que → often indicative
• negative/no sospechar que → often subjunctive

The subject is una estudiante.

So the structure is:

• La profesora = subject of sospecha
• una estudiante = subject of fingía

In other words:

• The teacher suspects
• that a student was pretending...

Spanish does not repeat the subject with a pronoun here, because it is already clearly stated.

It breaks down like this:

• La profesora = the teacher
• sospecha = suspects
• que = that
• una estudiante = a student
• fingía = was pretending
• estar enferma = to be ill
• para no hacer el examen = in order not to take/do the exam

So the structure is:

[Main clause]
La profesora sospecha

• [subordinate clause introduced by que]
  que una estudiante fingía estar enferma para no hacer el examen

Grammatically, yes, because the imperfect can sometimes express habitual actions:

• fingía = was pretending or used to pretend

However, in this sentence, the most natural reading is probably a specific past situation:

• was pretending to be ill in order to avoid the exam

The phrase el examen points to a particular event, so was pretending is likely the best interpretation here.

The given word order is the most neutral and natural:

• La profesora sospecha que una estudiante fingía estar enferma para no hacer el examen.

Spanish does allow some flexibility, but changing the order can change emphasis. For example:

• La profesora sospecha que, para no hacer el examen, una estudiante fingía estar enferma.

This is grammatical, but less neutral and more marked.

For learners, the original order is the best model to follow.