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).

GENDERED NOUNS: FROM -TORE TO -TRICE
MASCULINE	FEMININE	ENGLISH
attore	attrice	actor
autore	autrice	author
direttore	direttrice	director
imperatore	imperatrice	emperor/empress
lavoratore	lavoratrice	worker
pittore	pittrice	painter
scrittore	scrittrice	writer
stiratore	stiratrice	presser
traditore	traditrice	traitor
traduttore	traduttrice	translator

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

GENDERED NOUNS THAT GAIN AN -A IN THE FEMININE
MASCULINE	FEMININE	ENGLISH
cameriere	cameriera	waiter/waitress
cassiere	cassiera	bank teller
figlio	figlia	son/daughter
giardiniere	giardiniera	gardener
infermiere	infermiera	nurse
marchese	marchesa	marquis/marchioness
padrone	padrona	boss, owner
portiere	portiera	doorman/doorwoman
sarto	sarta	tailor/dressmaker
signore	signora	Mr./Mrs.

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).