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How To Use The Reflexive Verb “S’intéresser à” In French

How To Use The Reflexive Verb “S’intéresser à” In French

Today’s lesson takes an in-depth look at the reflexive verb s’intéresser à, which means “to be interested in”. This verb causes a lot of confusion for students. I provide lots of quick and easy grammatical explanations.

s’intéresser à

to be interested in

Pronunciation: [sɛ̃teʀese a]

S'intéresser à - French reflexive verb meaning "to be interested in"

S’intéresser à – to be interested in

Explanation

The verb s’intéresser is always reflexive in French. Having an understanding of reflexive verbs would be useful for today’s lesson.

The structure used for this verb is: s’intéresser à + subject you’re interested in. For example, je m’intéresse à la mode (I’m interested in fashion). You cannot say je suis intéresé(e) à la mode.

Example sentences

This first example sentence uses depuis, meaning both for and since.

Je m’intéresse à l’histoire française depuis trois ans.

I’ve been interested in French history for three years.

This second example uses the indirect object pronoun y, meaning both it and there. Y is required for verbs followed by the preposition à.

Tu t’intéresse à l’étymologie. Tu t’y interesses.

You are interested in etymology. You are interested in it.

This example uses s’intéresser in the passé composé, which requires the usage of être as the auxiliary verb.

Je ne m’y suis pas intéressé. C’est très ennuyeux.

I wasn’t interested. It‘s very boring.

In French, ça ne m’intéresse pas can translate to “that doesn’t interest me” or “I’m not interested in it”. The word ça (that) is referring back to a previouly mentioned topic (going to the beach in our example sentence).

Tu veux aller à la plage ? – Non, ça ne m’intéresse pas.

Do you want to go to the beach? No, I’m not interested.

For this example, un prix intéressant means a good or low price. Va is the verb aller (to go) in the imperative mood. means “there” and is also used as a filler word in conversation.

Va au marché de puces. Là, tu peux trouver des prix intéressants.

Go to the flea market. You can find very good prices there.

More reflexive verbs

Word of the Day archive | Lessons by David Issokson

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David Issokson
David Issokson is a lifelong language learner and speaks over seven languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private lessons. When not teaching or writing his French Word of the Day lessons, David enjoys his time skiing, hiking and mountain biking in Victor, Idaho.

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David Issokson

David Issokson is a lifelong language learner and speaks over seven languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private lessons. When not teaching or writing his French Word of the Day lessons, David enjoys his time skiing, hiking and mountain biking in Victor, Idaho.

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