Why doesn't optimista change its ending according to gender?

Question

I was just wondering why you wouldn't change the ending of optimista so that it would be optimisto for example: El hombre optimisto

Is there something I have forgotten, Gracias

Answer 1

On a little more investigation, I found a rule on this. Adjectives ending in "e", "ista", or a consonant do not have separate masculine or feminine forms. They do change with number, so you must add the "s" or "es" for plurals.

All these words ending in "ista" are like English words ending in "ist" Both nouns and adjectives--and do not change for gender. Just number as Noetol has stated. - Daniela2041, Jun 20, 2015

:) - FELIZ77, Jun 20, 2015

Answer 2

Nouns and adjectives ending in -istacan be either masculine or feminine, depending on the gender of the person to whom they refer. Other examples include: el/la artista; el/la dentista; el/la periodista; el presidente progresista; la mujer realista

Please add your level of Spanish to your profile. Thanks. - rac1, Jun 20, 2015

Answer 3

Not much of an answer, I know, but:

There are quite of few of these "common gender" nouns. For example:
el violinista, la violinista
el testigo, la testigo
el espía, la espía

They don't have much in common, although a good number of them are professions. You just have to memorize.

Yes, but the word in question is not a noun, but an adjective. I've run into this, but I too don't have a good answer. - Noetol, Jun 20, 2015

I think it is both a noun and an adjective. :) - ian-hill, Jun 20, 2015