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兴趣


yongyi

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  • 1 year later...

I have a question related to 有兴趣.

 

有兴趣 can mean two things: (1) interesting or (2) to be interested (in) / to have an interest in

 

E.g.:

(1) 他最有兴趣的功课是地理。

(2) 你有没有兴趣跟我一起去看电影?

 

But there is also a word 有趣 which means amusing/interesting/fascinating/funny.

 

My question: is 有兴趣 commonly used to express “interesting"?

Could 他最有意思的功课是地理 replace (1)? 

 

I have a feeling 有兴趣 cannot mean "interesting" by itself.

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At least to my ear, which may very well be wrong, there's a difference between:

1. 他的话很有趣。
2. 他的话很有道理。
 
and

3. 他的话很有兴趣。

That is, No. 3 seems off because it's crying out for someone -- express or implied -- who holds that interest. Nos. 1 and 2 don't seem to demand that sort of someone.

Perhaps this what the poster means when he says "by itself." That is, 有兴趣 seems to need an actor there with respect to it, express or implied, unlike phrases like 有道理 which don't. (Probably because 有 in Nos. 1 and 2 relates to 他的话, while in No. 3 it relates to that missing someone not 他的话.)

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How I would interpret the two sentences:

 

他最有兴趣的功课是地理 - The subject that he is most interested in is geography.

他最有意思的功课是地理 - His most interesting subject is geography.

 

So the two sentences actually have a different grammatical structure. In the first case, 他 is the subject for 有. In the second case, 功课 is the subject for 有.

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It's not my idea. Here's proof:

-image-

How do you explain (1) then?

Your book is incorrect to have "interesting" in that definition. Both of those sentences are examples of the "to be interested in/to have interest in" sense of the word.

The homework he is most interested in is geography.

lips was 100% correct in saying 有兴趣 simply does not mean "interesting".

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  • 3 weeks later...

The above example is a "paraphrased version" of translation which happens to use the word "interesting". The original sentence literally means: he is most interested in geography.

Again, it is simply incorrect to say the phrase 感兴趣 or

有兴趣 means interesting.

As for the mathematical analogy, what you are saying is that "interesting" entails " interested". So let's say you are right, and I say "I am interesting in why you presented an interested example", but wait, that sounds a little odd, right? That is how you feel as a native speaker when you misuse 感兴趣 as interesting.

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@metlx I didn't really get what point you were making with the math analogy, but the key difference between "interested" and "interesting" is that the first one applies to the person who has an interest, and the second one applies to the object of the interest. That's why you have to say "He is interested in geography" or "Geography is interesting to him" and you can't switch it around. The difference between "有兴趣" and "有意思/有趣" is pretty much the same thing. When you say 有兴趣 the subject has to be the person who has an interest, and not the object of the interest. If you mess it up and make the subject be the thing that is interesting, then it's wrong. End of story. So then what about that example sentence "他最有兴趣的功课是地理。"? This sentence is fine, as 他 is the subject for 有兴趣, all within this attributive clause "他最有兴趣的" which modifies 功课. 功课 is not used as the subject for 有兴趣. That would be wrong.

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