appassionare

Appassionare is an Italian verb of the first conjugation that means to arouse passion, to fascinate, or to excite a strong interest in someone or something. It is used to describe the effect that a person or thing has on another person; the thing provoking the feeling is usually the subject, while the person affected is expressed with an indirect object pronoun such as mi, ti, gli, ci, vi, or loro. For example, La musica mi appassiona or Questo romanzo appassiona i lettori.

The reflexive form appassionarsi means to become passionate or to grow fond of something. It is used when the subject develops an enthusiasm or strong interest. For instance, Mi sono appassionato di storia indicates that I have become enthusiastic about history.

Grammar and usage notes: appassionare is a regular -are verb. In the present tense it follows the standard pattern for -are verbs, for example: io appassiono, tu appassionI, lui/lei appassiona, noi appassioniamo, voi appassionate, loro appassionano. The verb can be used with infinitives as well, for example, Mi appassiona leggere romanzi. Past tenses typically use avere as the auxiliary, as in Questo libro mi ha appassionato.

Etymology and related forms: appassionare derives from the noun passione (passion) and the suffix -are. Related terms include appassionato (enthusiast; passionate), appassionante (thrilling, exciting), and appassionatamente (passionately). Synonyms include fascinate, interessare, entusiasmare; antonyms include annoiare, indifferire.