感兴趣
to be interested (in)
gǎn xìngqù
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 感 ('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 对 (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 — 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)
Character breakdown
to feel; to sense
interest; mood (also xīng 'to rise')
interest; fun
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
Synonyms
Don't confuse 感兴趣 with
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 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 is 'to feel / a feeling' in the general sense.