Interesan

Interesan is the third-person plural present indicative form of the Spanish verb interesar. It translates roughly as “they/you all interest” and is used to express that something is of interest to someone. In typical sentences, the thing that causes interest acts as the subject, while the person or group who experiences the interest is introduced with an indirect object pronoun or a prepositional phrase, as in “A mí me interesan los libros” or “A ustedes les interesan las noticias.”

Grammar-wise, interesar is a transitive verb. The syntactic pattern often mirrors the construction of gustar and similar verbs: the thing that provokes interest is the subject, and the recipient of that interest is marked indirectly (me, te, le, nos, os, les). Because of this, negation or question forms may place the indirect object before the verb: “A ti no te interesan esas propuestas.”

Etymology and cognates: Interesar derives from Late Latin interesse, from Latin inter- “between” + esse “to be,” originally conveying the sense of being between parties or of consequence to someone. This lineage gives rise to related verbs in other Romance languages, such as French intéresser and Italian interessare.

Usage notes: Interesan is commonly used to compare levels of interest, or to discuss what topics or activities are relevant to a group. It often replaces a direct subject with a thing or matter that is of interest, aligning with the broader family of verbs that express interest, importance, or relevance rather than direct action.

Examples: Las propuestas interesan a los inversores. A ellos les interesan las culturas antiguas. ¿Qué te interesa de la conferencia?