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In Italian, many words for professions, hobbies, or roles end in **-ista**. This is a special class of nouns because the masculine and feminine forms share the exact same ending in the singular.

### The Invariable Singular: *-ista*

To know if a singular **-ista** noun is masculine or feminine, you simply look at the article (like *il* or *la*). The noun itself does not change.

- **Masculine singular:** *il turista* (the male tourist)
- **Feminine singular:** *la turista* (the female tourist)

### The Plural: *-isti* and *-iste*

In the plural, however, the endings split to show gender:

- **Masculine plural:** the *-a* changes to **-i** (*i turisti*)
- **Feminine plural:** the *-a* changes to **-e** (*le turiste*)

Remember to match your plural articles (*i*, *gli* for masculine; *le* for feminine) and your adjectives to the new plural endings.

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### Professions and Specialists

You will see this **-ista** pattern constantly when talking about artists, specialized jobs, and medical professionals. Notice how the articles and adjectives always match the gender of the person, whether singular or plural.

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Nouns ending in -ista (-ista, -isti, -iste)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (io sono)

Singular definite articles (il, la)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Question	Answer
The tourists visited the museum today.	I turisti hanno visitato il museo oggi.
I like the American tourists.	Mi piacciono le turiste americane.
artist	l'artista
The artist created a beautiful painting.	L'artista ha creato un bel quadro.
No artist works here.	Nessun artista lavora qui.
professional	il professionista
He is a very serious professional.	Lui è un professionista molto serio.
The professionals worked well.	I professionisti hanno lavorato bene.
specialist	lo specialista
The specialist studied the problem.	La specialista ha studiato il problema.
The specialists didn't understand anything.	Gli specialisti non hanno capito niente.
pianist	il pianista
No pianist played tonight.	Nessun pianista ha suonato stasera.
I like famous pianists.	Mi piacciono i pianisti famosi.
protagonist	il protagonista
The protagonists of this novel are young.	Le protagoniste di questo romanzo sono giovani.
The protagonist didn't love anyone.	Il protagonista non ha amato nessuno.
activist	l'attivista
The activists organized a strike.	Gli attivisti hanno organizzato uno sciopero.
The young activist speaks often.	La giovane attivista parla spesso.
taxi driver	il tassista
The taxi driver drove fast.	Il tassista ha guidato velocemente.
I don't like slow taxi drivers.	Non mi piacciono i tassisti lenti.
pharmacist	il farmacista
The pharmacist recommends this medicine.	La farmacista consiglia questa medicina.
No pharmacist sold that product.	Nessun farmacista ha venduto quel prodotto.
fashion designer	lo stilista
I like Italian fashion designers.	Mi piacciono gli stilisti italiani.
The fashion designers created very beautiful clothes.	Le stiliste hanno creato vestiti molto belli.
bartender, barista (m/f)	il barista
The new bartender made an excellent coffee.	La nuova barista ha fatto un ottimo caffè.
The bartenders are very busy, so I had a tea.	I baristi sono molto occupati, quindi ho preso un tè.
cyclist (m/f)	il ciclista
The tired cyclist stopped in the park.	Il ciclista stanco si è fermato nel parco.
The cyclists read the map in the square.	Le cicliste hanno letto la mappa in piazza.
collector (m/f)	il collezionista
The famous collector wrote a book about art.	Il famoso collezionista ha scritto un libro sull'arte.
The collectors bought the two artists' paintings.	Le collezioniste hanno comprato i quadri dei due artisti.