Answer to the Exercise on “有兴趣(yǒu xìnɡqù)” vs “有意思(yǒu yìsi)” – Which One is Interesting?

Correct Answer: B
The Chinese language tends to get confusing when two words that are both related to the same word in English actually have very unrelated meanings in Chinese. An example of this is “有兴趣(yǒu xìngqù)” and “有意思(yǒu yìsi).”
Although both “有兴趣(yǒu xìngqù)” and “有意思(yǒu yìsi)” are associated with the word “interest,” this doesn’t mean that the two words have similar meanings.
Let’s first take a look at the phrase “有兴趣(yǒu xìngqù).” “有(yǒu)” means “to have” and “兴趣(xìngqù)” refers to the noun “interest.” Simply put, “有兴趣(yǒu xìngqù)” means “to have interest in…” or “to be interested in….”

Examples:

Linda: Míngtiān yǒu TFBOYS de yǎnchànghuì, nǐ yǒu xìngqù yìqǐ qù kàn ma?
Linda:明天      有 TFBOYS   的      演唱会,    你  有   兴趣  一起 去  看   吗?
Linda: There is a TFBOYS concert tomorrow. Are you interested in going together?

Zhāng Wěi: Hǎo a!

张        伟: 好  啊!
Zhang Wei: OK!

Gōngsī wǎnshàng yǒu wǔhuì, nǐ yǒu xìngqù cānjiā ma?
公司         晚上      有    舞会,你 有    兴趣    参加  吗?
There is a dance party at our company tonight. Are you interested in joining?

“有意思(yǒu yìsi)” is different from “有兴趣(yǒu xìngqù).” Chinese people usually use “有意思(yǒu yìsi)” as an adjective meaning “interesting.” Generally, we add an adverb of degree beforehand, as in “很((hěn) so,” “非常(fēicháng) very,” “太(tài) too,” etc. to create phrases like “很有意思(hěn yǒu yìsi),” “非常有意思(fēicháng yǒu yìsi),” “真有意思(zhēn yǒu yìsi),” and so on.

Examples:

Zhè bù huàjù zhēn yǒu yìsi!
这   部  话剧    真    有  意思!
This drama is so interesting!

Tom: Lǐ   Ān de diànyǐng zěnmeyàng?
Tom:李 安 的    电影        怎么样?
Tom: How about Ang Lee’s film?

Lǐ Píng: Fēicháng yǒu yìsi!
李 萍:   非常       有   意思!
Li Ping: It’s very interesting!

In our test, Zhang Liang thinks the newly-released film is very interesting and he wants to know whether Jenny is interested in seeing it. So the answer is B.

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