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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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