[Idiom] Still don't get the meaning of"to take interest in someone" after Googling...

[azhu]

Still don't get the meaning of"to take interest in someone" after Googling...

Hi, I'm not sure what "to take interest in someone" implies.
I found the explanation on "The Free Dictionary", here goes:

take an interest in someone or somethingto become concerned or interested in someone or something. Do you take an interest in your children? You should take an interest in everything your child does.


I thought taking an interest in somebody must have meant falling in love with someone! But apparently I can tell it's not like that judging from the example sentence. Other than that however, I totally have no idea what this phrase might mean. What is it like to take an interest in someone? Maybe I might ask for more examples if possible? Thank you very much.:up:
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I saw this usage in a thread talking about frustrations in learning a foreign language(not this forum), and I saw one wrote "I also get a bit embarrassed easily. For example, I tried to say in class that the teacher takes an interest in us. So I said, laoshi dui women you xingqu.(Note: s/he directly translated word by word) She then had a good laugh because in Mandarin, it means that she likes us romantically.

"
Umm...did this "context" help you answer the question? :\

 

[Gillnetter]

Re: Still don't get the meaning of"to take interest in someone" after Googling...

Hi, I'm not sure what "to take interest in someone" implies.
I found the explanation on "The Free Dictionary", here goes:

take an interest in someone or somethingto become concerned or interested in someone or something. Do you take an interest in your children? You should take an interest in everything your child does.


I thought taking an interest in somebody must have meant falling in love with someone! But apparently I can tell it's not like that judging from the example sentence. Other than that however, I totally have no idea what this phrase might mean. What is it like to take an interest in someone? Maybe I might ask for more examples if possible? Thank you very much.:up:
---
I saw this usage in a thread talking about frustrations in learning a foreign language(not this forum), and I saw one wrote "I also get a bit embarrassed easily. For example, I tried to say in class that the teacher takes an interest in us. So I said, laoshi dui women you xingqu.(Note: s/he directly translated word by word) She then had a good laugh because in Mandarin, it means that she likes us romantically.

"
Umm...did this "context" help you answer the question? :\

To take an interest means to be somehow concerned with someone or something. The "somehow" can be quite wide. For example, I can: take a romantic interest in someone (love or care deeply), take a brotherly interest in someone (care about someone as a human), and take a decided interest in someone (exhibit a concern about someone). I can also take a financial interest in someone or something - I can lend you money and expect repayment (now I have a financial interest), or, I can take a financial interest in a business (by buying some of the stock of the business, for example).

 

[azhu]

Re: Still don't get the meaning of"to take interest in someone" after Googling...

To take an interest means to be somehow concerned with someone or something. The "somehow" can be quite wide. For example, I can: take a romantic interest in someone (love or care deeply), take a brotherly interest in someone (care about someone as a human), and take a decided interest in someone (exhibit a concern about someone). I can also take a financial interest in someone or something - I can lend you money and expect repayment (now I have a financial interest), or, I can take a financial interest in a business (by buying some of the stock of the business, for example).

Thank you SO much! That was a very clear explanation, and I now have a much more understanding toward this phrase. I didn't know this is a very arbitrary expression. Thank you again!^u^