You probably know that for every professore there is a professoressa, and for every studente there is a studentessa. But how about other nouns of profession, status, or relation that have a male and a female version?

Most masculine nouns ending in -tore become feminine by changing -tore to -trice (see table below).

Some masculine nouns become feminine by changing their final vowel to -a (see table below).

Take note that there are certain names of professions that end in -a regardless of whether the term refers to a male or a female. In such case, the gender distinction is made by the definite article: il giornalista/la giornalista, il dentista/la dentista. The plurals of these professions follow the same general rule as with any other noun: Plural masculine nouns end in -i (i giornalisti, i dentisi), plural feminine nouns end in -e (le giornaliste, le dentiste).

Finally, certain masculine nouns become feminine by replacing their final vowel with -essa (see the following table).