interesseren

Interessereren is a Dutch verb meaning to arouse someone’s interest or to be interested in something. The word is derived from the French word intéresser, via Latin roots related to interesse. In use, the verb appears in two related senses: a causative sense, where something interests someone else, and a reflexive or intransitive sense, where a person is interested in something.

In the causative sense, a subject activities to interest someone in a topic or object. Examples include: De lezing interesseert veel studenten (The lecture interests many students). De docent weet hoe hij studenten voor wiskunde kan interesseren (The teacher knows how to interest students in mathematics). In the intransitive sense, with zich interesseren voor of zich interesseren in, the speaker expresses personal interest: Veel mensen interesseren zich voor geschiedenis; Ik interesseer me voor kunst. Veel mensen zijn ook geïnteresseerd in kunst.

The verb is generally treated as a regular -eren verb. In the present tense, forms typically follow the standard pattern for -eren verbs (ik interesseer, jij interesseert, hij interesseert, wij interesseren, jullie interesseren, zij interesseren). The past tense is formed with -erde(n): ik interesseerde, jij interesseerde, hij interesseerde, wij interesseerden, etc. The past participle is geïnteresseerd, used in compound tenses (Ik heb me geïnteresseerd in dat onderwerp).

Interessereren coexists with related nouns and expressions, such as interesse (interest) and belangstelling (interest or attention). In Belgian Dutch, the usage is largely the same, though regional preferences for synonyms may vary.