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HSK 3

感兴趣

to be interested (in)

phraseneutral
gǎn3rd tone
xìng4th tone
4th tone

HSK level

1
2
3
4
5
6
Pinyin
gǎn xìngqù
Part of speech
phrase
Level
HSK 3
Strokes
34
Register
neutral

Stroke order for 感兴趣

感兴趣 is written with 34 strokes (: 13, : 6, : 15). The animation replays automatically.

What does 感兴趣 mean?

感兴趣 (gǎn xìngqù) is the standard way to say 'to be interested in something' in Chinese.

Literally ('to feel') + 兴趣 ('interest') — 'to feel interest.' The grammar trips up English speakers: the thing you're interested in is introduced by the preposition (duì, 'toward'), placed before 感兴趣 — so you say 我对历史感兴趣 ('I'm interested in history'), never 我感兴趣历史. The negative is 不感兴趣 ('not interested'), and 没兴趣 is a common shorter alternative.

To emphasize, add 很感兴趣 ('very interested'). Be aware that 感兴趣 is a verb phrase, not an adjective like English 'interesting'; the adjective for 'interesting' is 有意思 (yǒu yìsi). 'This movie is interesting' = 这部电影很有意思 (not 这部电影感兴趣).

Character by character

gǎnto feel; to sense
+
xìnginterest; mood (also xīng 'to rise')
+
interest; fun
=
感兴趣

Memory hook: 感 ('feel') + 兴趣 ('interest') — to feel interest. Remember the 对 ('toward') that introduces the topic: 对 X 感兴趣.

Example sentences

我对中国文化很感兴趣。

Wǒ duì Zhōngguó wénhuà hěn gǎn xìngqù.

I'm very interested in Chinese culture.

neutral

你对什么运动感兴趣?

Nǐ duì shénme yùndòng gǎn xìngqù?

What sport are you interested in?

spoken

他对工作不太感兴趣。

Tā duì gōngzuò bú tài gǎn xìngqù.

He's not very interested in the job.

neutral

孩子们对动物都很感兴趣。

Háizimen duì dòngwù dōu hěn gǎn xìngqù.

Kids are all interested in animals.

neutral

我开始对学做菜感兴趣了。

Wǒ kāishǐ duì xué zuòcài gǎn xìngqù le.

I've started to get interested in learning to cook.

spoken

Common phrases with 感兴趣

对...感兴趣duì...gǎn xìngqùbe interested in...
很感兴趣hěn gǎn xìngqùvery interested
不感兴趣bù gǎn xìngqùnot interested
对中文感兴趣duì Zhōngwén gǎn xìngqùinterested in Chinese
感兴趣的话题gǎn xìngqù de huàtítopics one is interested in

Synonyms

有兴趣yǒu xìngqù

有兴趣 ('to have interest') is nearly interchangeable with 感兴趣. 感兴趣 emphasizes the feeling of interest; 有兴趣 emphasizes having it. In daily speech both work the same way and both take : 对音乐有兴趣 / 对音乐感兴趣.

喜欢xǐhuan

喜欢 means 'to like / love (doing).' 感兴趣 is more specific — drawn to learn about or engage with something. 我喜欢吃面 = 'I like eating noodles'; 我对中国历史感兴趣 = 'I'm interested in Chinese history.'

Don't confuse 感兴趣 with

有意思yǒu yìsi

有意思 means 'interesting / fun' — describes the thing. 感兴趣 describes the person's feeling about it. 这本书很有意思 = 'this book is interesting'; 我对这本书感兴趣 = 'I'm interested in this book.'

兴趣xìngqù

兴趣 alone is the noun 'interest / hobby' (我的兴趣是看书 'my hobby is reading'). 感兴趣 is the verb phrase 'to feel interested.' Don't say 我兴趣音乐 — say 我对音乐感兴趣 or 我的兴趣是音乐.

感觉gǎnjué

感觉 is 'to feel / a feeling' in the general sense. 感兴趣 is specifically 'to feel interested in.' Both start with but the second character changes the meaning entirely.

FAQ

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