Thread: To interest

Simple question: I'm pretty sure I understand интересоваться, but what exactly is the function of just интересовать? How does it differ?

Интересоваться - to be interested, интересовать - to interest.

Интересоваться - to be interested

or "to take an interest in" (something).

Originally Posted by Marcus

Интересоваться - to be interested, интересовать - to interest.

Right. But how exactly does that play out in a sentence?

Is интересовать something like, "to make someone interested"?

Is it sort of like a stylistic choice then? The difference between, "I am interested in x" and "X interests me"?

Generally yes, verbs ended by -ся (reflexive)are normally equivalent of English passive voice. But in fact sometimes there are additional meanings or nuances.

For example "интересоваться кем-то" most probably means either "to ask around about someone" or "to show the interest". In perfective (поинтересоваться) it means just "to ask". "Интересоваться чем-то" sometimes means "something is my hobby".

Some curious things
-ся it's a reduced transformed form of себя meaning "self"
интересоваться a very long time ago could be said as итересовать себя or to interest self (in)