 | | Of the three, only the middle one is a possibility. But even here, it sounds slightly awkward. I think most people would say simply: - That's very interesting.
OR:
- It's very interesting.
OR:
- I find that very interesting.
If you want to use interest as a verb, rather than interesting as an adjective, you would need to say: - That interests me a lot.
- That doesn't interest me very much.
-ing adjective or -ed adjective? Remember: people might be interested in something and it is the thing itself that people find interesting. Other adjectives describing emotions follow a similar pattern: | confusing / confused | disappointing / disappointed | exciting / excited | | shocking / shocked | surprising / surprised | tiring / tired | | amazing / amazed | annoying / annoyed | boring / bored |
Compare the following: - His explanation was confusing. Most students were confused by it.
- I was disappointed not to get the promotion I deserved. A disappointing day, yesterday.
- I'm starting a new job and I'm quite excited about it. I think it will be quite exciting.
- The news was shocking. We were shocked when we heard that everyone had drowned.
- Everybody was surprised when Jenny came top of the class. It was really amazing!
- It was a tiring day. I was dead tired after all that shopping.
Note that people can also be adjective -ing, if they awaken this emotion in others: A: Frank is such a boring person, isn't he? I find his conversation really boring. B: He may be boring, but at least he's not as annoying as Ben who sniffs all the time. A: Paul's an amazing guy, isn't he? He amazes me. He can always see the funny side of things. B: I'm quite amazed by all the things Paul gets up to, I must say!
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| | Interested in / surprised by / pleased with / etc Note that if you are using a prepositional structure with these adjectives, it will normally be either with or by, sometimes both are possible. Interested, however, is usually followed by in. Compare the following: - We were pleased / delighted with all the wedding presents we received.
- We were surprised by his rudeness at the family gathering. Quite disgusting!
- I was quite disappointed with / by the film. He's normally such an exciting director.
- I would be interested in working in Britain if I could get a work permit.
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| | | Interest / surprise / please / etc as verbs Note that the verb forms of these adjectives describe an emotional state, not an action, and are thus rarely used with continuous tenses: - She wanted to please him, but disappointed him when he discovered that she had spent so much money. (NOT:
was disappointing him
)
- It surprises me to see you making so many basic errors in this game. (NOT: It is surprising me
)
- The novel interested me because it seemed to reflect real life so accurately.
- It amused me so much that I kept bursting out with laughter.
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