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Nouns that name people
The majority of nouns denoting people (and a few denoting animals: see next chapter) have the same root for masculine and feminine but different endings. The table below indicates how masculine nouns change into their feminine equivalents. Next to each noun will be placed its masculine or feminine definite article to make the gender immediately clear, especially when some confusion is possible.

The feminine of dottore (‘doctor’) is not ‘dottrice’ (according to the rule), but dottoressa.

There are also nouns ending in -a that can be both masculine and feminine: giornalista, atleta, artista, collega, etc. In these cases, the article and/or the adjective make the gender clear: un artista / un’artista (a male artist/a female artist), un giornalista famoso / una giornalista famosa (a male journalist/a female journalist).

Gender of adjectives
You have already learned the adjectives of nationality. Descriptive adjectives work in the same way. If in English the form of an adjective is invariable (intelligent, famous, etc.), in Italian an adjective always agrees in gender with the noun it modifies and so can change its form: uomo is famoso (famous) because the word uomo (man) is masculine, while donna is famosa (famous) because the word donna (woman) is feminine.

• They end in-o when they refer to singular masculine nouns (amico simpatico)
• They end in -a when they refer to singular feminine nouns (amica simpatica)
• Some of them end in -e and they refer to both masculine and feminine nouns (amico intelligente / amica intelligente)

Foreign adjectives integrated into Italian vocabulary  (trendy, snob, etc.) are invariable and used for masculine and feminine nouns (uomo snob – donna snob).
The position of descriptive adjectives 
In Italian descriptive adjectives usually follow the noun they modify (una signora gentile ‘a kind lady ’, un’auto veloce ‘a fast car’). A few adjectives may come either before or after the noun and the position can affect the meaning. This occurs especially with buono and vecchio. Notice the difference:

• Gianfranco è un buon professore (for the form of buon see below) means that Gianfranco can even be strict and give a lot of homework, but for sure he is good at his job. Gianfranco è un professore buono means that Gianfranco is a nice person, that students like him but he is not necessarily good in doing his job.
• Antonio è un vecchio amico means that Antonio is an old friend and he can also be 20 years old. Antonio è un amico vecchio  means that Antonio is a friend who is old.

Even the following adjective can have a different meaning when placed before or after a noun. See the examples:

• povero: un povero uomo (‘an unlucky man’), un uomo povero (‘a man without money’)
• grande: un grande uomo (‘a great man’), un uomo grande (‘a big man’)
• piccolo: un piccolo uomo (‘a mean man’), un uomo piccolo (‘a small/short man’)

Buono + nouns

When buono is placed before a noun, follow a pattern similar to those of the indefinite article.

• • buono is used with masculine nouns beginning with: z (un buono zio ‘a good uncle’), the group s + consonant (un buono studente ‘a good student’), the group ps (un buono psicologo ‘a good psychologist’)
  • buon is used with all other masculine nouns: un buon amico (‘a friend’ m.), un buon gatto (‘a cat’)
  • buona is used with all feminine nouns: una buona signora (‘a good lady’), una buona amica (‘a good friend’ f.)
  • buon’ can be used instead of buona with feminine nouns beginning with vowels: una buon’amica (‘a good friend’ )

• Repeat the descriptions above several times. Use speech to text to check if the computer recognizes your pronunciation.
• Describe two of your classmates. Use at least two adjectives for each of them.
• Come sei? Now describe yourself.
• Create a dialogue between two students including all the elements you have learned up to now. Use the dictionary if you need to find more Italian adjective you don’t know. Then check if there are mistakes in your text with Spell and Grammar Checker.