Nouns ending in -e can be masculine or feminine
il giornale (the newspaper)
il fiume (the river)
il nome (the name)
la frase (the sentence)
la chiave (the key)
la canzone (the song)
Most nouns ending in -e form their plural by changing the -e to -i
i giornali (the newspapers)
i fiumi (the rivers)
i nomi (the names)
le frasi (the sentences)
le chiavi (the keys)
le canzoni (the songs)
Words ending –ore are usually masculine
l'onore (the honor)
il fiore (the flower)
il professore (the professor)
Words ending –ione are usually feminine
una prenotazione (a reservation)
un’escursione (an excursion)
una destinazione (a destination)
una stazione (a station)
With human beings the gender of the noun is usually determined by the sex of the person referred to
il cantante / la cantante (the singer)
il paziente / la paziente (the patient)
il consorte / la consorte (the spouse)
Most masculine nouns ending in -tore change to -trice for the feminine
l'attore -> l'attrice (the actor)
il traditore -> la traditrice (the traitor)
- Exceptions include: tintore -> tintora (dyer) / avventore -> avventora (customer) / impostore -> impostora (imposter)