Learn Portuguese (Portugal): É que o médico fez o atestado de modo que me dispensem. - The thing is the doctor made the medical certificate so that they excuse me.

É que o médico fez o atestado de modo que me dispensem.

The thing is the doctor made the medical certificate so that they excuse me.

Breakdown of É que o médico fez o atestado de modo que me dispensem.

Questions & Answers about É que o médico fez o atestado de modo que me dispensem.

Why does the sentence start with É que instead of a regular subject or verb?

In conversational Portuguese, É que is a very common discourse marker used to introduce an explanation or justification. It works just like saying 'The thing is...' or 'It's just that...' in English to explain a situation.

Why is the verb dispensar in the subjunctive form dispensem?

The conjunction de modo que (so that) triggers the subjunctive because it introduces an intended outcome or purpose. Since being excused is a goal rather than a guaranteed fact, it requires the subjunctive dispensem rather than the indicative dispensam.

Who is the subject of dispensem here?

The verb is in the third-person plural, but it functions impersonally. The speaker is referring generally to the people in charge, like an employer or a school administration, who have the authority to excuse them, without needing to specify exactly who they are.

Can I use para que instead of de modo que in this sentence?

Yes, para que also means 'so that' and functions exactly the same way here, also triggering the subjunctive dispensem. The phrase de modo que can sometimes carry a slightly stronger sense of 'in such a way that,' but they are largely interchangeable for expressing purpose.