Fingers’ Grammar Clinic

AUDIO DR FINGERS’GRAMMAR CLINIC

Dear Dr Fingers, Last month you looked at the difference between afraid + an infinitive, and afraid of + a gerund. Well, I was wondering if you could explain the difference between “interested in” and “interested to”. And while we are on this subject, could you also explain the difference between “sorry to” and “sorry for”. Thank you very much. Siphon (by e-mail)

Dear Siphon (what a silly name), Thank you very much for your e-mail. Of course, I would be delighted to help you with your question. Let’s look at each case individually.

Interested in

We use “interested in” + a gerund to talk about the things that we are thinking of doing, or to talk about the things that we would like to do. For example: “I’m interested in buying this old chair.” “She’s interested in seeing what you have to offer.” “I’m interested in finding out more about the ancient Egyptians.” “I’m interested in seeing that group play a concert.” “We are interested in hearing what you have to say about it.”

Interested to

We often use “interested to + a verb such as “hear/see/know/read/ learn”. For example: “I was interested to hear it.” We use this construction to say that something was interesting/ amusing/stimulating for us. For example: “I was interested to see that Diane got that job”, which means, “it was interesting for me that Diane got that new job”. “I would be interested to know what he thinks”, which means, “it would be interesting for me to know what he thinks”.

Today’s class: Interested in & Interested to

Sorry to / sorry for

OK, now let’s look at your other question. We use “sorry to” in order to apologise when we are about to do something. For example: “I’m sorry to bother you but I really need to borrow your towel.” “I’m sorry to disturb you, but you were making a lot of noise.”

We also use “sorry to” to show sympathy. For example: “I was sorry to hear about the death of your cat.” “We were sorry to hear that you lost your job, your car and your house all in one day.”

We use “sorry for” to apologise for something that we did in the past. For example: “I’m sorry for shouting at you earlier”, which you can also say like this, “I’m sorry that I shouted at you earlier.” “We’re sorry for not telling you about the party”, which you can also say like this, “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you about the party”.

Well, I hope my explanations have helped you. Yours, Dr Fingers.

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