interested and interesting

[ophiuchus]

Hi,

I am interested in biology.
Biology is interesting.

So far, so good.

However, I am reading a 19th-century novel and a couple of times I've come across this sentence: I'm interesting in this topic.

Is that old-fashioned? Can you use interesting like this these days? agin

Thanks

[5jj]

The short answer is, "No".

Come to think of it, that's the full answer.

[BobK]

... I am reading a 19th-century novel and a couple of times I've come across this sentence: I'm interesting in this topic.

Is that old-fashioned? Can you use interesting like this these days? agin

Thanks

You're not the only one who's shocked. Can you give us a page-reference and/or context. (I'll see your and raise you - )

b

[ophiuchus]

You're not the only one who's shocked. Can you give us a page-reference and/or context. (I'll see your and raise you - )

b

I'm reading Wilkie Collins at the moment. I first came across this in Armadale. Now it's The Moonstone that I am reading, and I've come across it a second time.

I cannot give you page or edition because in both cases it is an e-book downloaded from the Gutenberg Project website!

Thank you in any case. It is hard when you see something breaking one of the few rules that had seemed to work up to now.

[5jj]

It is hard when you see something breaking one of the few rules that had seemed to work up to now.

If you read enough, you will find every rule that you have ever encountered broken by somebody.

Don't forget that the 'rules' are simply attempts by observers to summarise what most moderately educated native speakers say/write. If you find an occasional example of a writer who does not follow the 'rules', it does not, by itself, mean that the 'rule' is useless.

Do not forget, either, that English changes rapidly. Some of my younger colleagues think that I use a very old-fashioned/stilted/ artificial/etc form of English, but if the masters who taught me English fifty and more years ago could see/hear what I produce now, they would be appalled at the way I 'mis-use' the Enlish language.

One cannot base any opinion on the acceptability of anything in the English of 2011 on anything written more than thirty years ago.

[nyota]

but if the masters who taught me English fifty and more years ago could see/hear what I produce now, they would be appalled at the way I 'mis-use' the Enlish language.

The typo knew when to step into the spotlight.

[5jj]

The typo knew when to step into the spotlight.

I hate you!

[Verona_82]

If you read enough, you will find every rule that you have ever encountered broken by somebody.

.

Keeping this in mind can save you lots of nerve cells I wish I'd realized that much earlier.
Sometimes rules are broken intentionally, for stylistic reasons; sometimes it just reflects what was considered acceptable in a language over a historical period. The more interesting it is to trace the changes!

[nyota]

I hate you!

You've made my day 5jj. gh gh

And now I'll stop off-topic spamming.