Interesar Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish
The present tense of interesar — "to interest" in English — is the form you need for what happens now, for habits and for general truths. This page gives you the full present conjugation table for interesar with all six persons, explains exactly how the tense is formed for this verb, shows when to use it with real examples, and finishes with a quiz so you can test yourself. Interesar means "to interest", and it works exactly like gustar and encantar: the thing that interests you is the subject, and you are the indirect object. Me interesa la historia means "history interests me", word for word. The verb agrees with the thing: me interesa el arte (singular) but me interesan las ciencias (plural). Learners use interesar constantly — for school subjects, for jobs, for hobbies — so the pattern me interesa / me interesan is worth memorising as a pair, and the third-person forms do almost all the work. To see it in a real sentence: Me interesa la historia. — "History interests me.".
Present tense conjugation table: interesar
Every person of interesar in the present tense. The gerund is interesando and the past participle is interesado.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | intereso |
| tú | interesas |
| él/ella/Ud. | interesa |
| nosotros/as | interesamos |
| vosotros/as | interesáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | interesan |
How the present indicative of interesar is formed
The present indicative of interesar is built from the stem interes- plus the present indicative endings for -ar verbs. Take the infinitive, drop the -ar ending, and add the ending that matches the person. The table below shows the endings, and the full table above shows them attached to the stem.
| Person | Ending | Form |
|---|---|---|
| yo | -o | intereso |
| tú | -as | interesas |
| él/ella/Ud. | -a | interesa |
| nosotros/as | -amos | interesamos |
| vosotros/as | -áis | interesáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | -an | interesan |
interesar is a regular -ar verb in form, but it is used in a special pattern. The stem is interes- and the endings are the normal -ar endings, so the table above is completely regular. The special part is the meaning: interesar works like gustar, so the thing you love, that interests you or that bores you is the subject of the sentence, and you are the indirect object — me, te, le, nos, os, les. In practice that means the third-person forms do almost all the work: interesa for one thing and interesan for several things. The first and second person forms in the table exist, but you will rarely need them in this pattern.
The gerund of interesar is interesando and the past participle is interesado. Both are regular for this verb, and the participle is the form you need for all the perfect tenses with haber.
When to use the present tense of interesar
The present tense is not one single use — it covers several situations, and interesar appears in all of them. The five uses below are the ones you will meet most often, each with an example that shows the verb in a natural sentence.
Being interested in a singular subject
With a singular subject, use the él form: me interesa la historia.
"Me interesa la historia." — "History interests me."
Being interested in plural things
With plural things, use the ellos form: me interesan las ciencias.
"Me interesan las ciencias." — "Science interests me."
Being interested in an activity
With an infinitive, use the singular form: me interesa aprender.
"Me interesa aprender idiomas." — "Learning languages interests me."
Someone else being interested
Change the pronoun, not the pattern: te interesa, le interesa, nos interesa.
"A mi hermano le interesa el fútbol." — "My brother is interested in football."
Not being interested
The negative is extremely common: no me interesa means "I'm not interested".
"No me interesa la política." — "Politics doesn't interest me."
The present tense vs the closest tenses
Present — habit or general fact vs Preterite — one finished occasion
The present describes a habit, a routine or a general fact — something that happens again and again or that is true in general. The preterite reports one finished occasion in the past. Use the present when the action repeats or is still true, and the preterite when you are telling what happened once, on a specific day.
- Present — habit or general fact: Me interesa el arte moderno. — "Modern art interests me."
- Preterite — one finished occasion: Me interesó el arte moderno. — the same idea, placed in the preterite.
Present — now vs Imperfect — a past habit or background
The present talks about now. The imperfect talks about the past as a background — a repeated habit, an ongoing situation, something that used to happen. If you can add "used to" in English, the imperfect is usually the right choice; if it is happening now or always, use the present.
- Present — now: Me interesan los idiomas. — "Languages interest me."
- Imperfect — a past habit or background: Me interesaban los idiomas. — the same idea, placed in the imperfect.
Present — now or a fixed plan vs Future — what will happen
The present describes what happens now, what you do regularly, or a plan that is already fixed. The future describes what will happen later — a promise, a prediction, a plan that is not yet under way. Spanish often uses the present for near-future plans, but the future is the form for a clear statement about tomorrow.
- Present — now or a fixed plan: Te interesa la música. — "Music interests you."
- Future — what will happen: Te interesará la música. — the same idea, placed in the future.
Examples: interesar in the present tense
Seven sentences that show interesar in the present tense only, across all six persons. Read each one aloud, notice the ending, and check the translation.
- Me interesa el arte moderno. — "Modern art interests me."
- Me interesan los idiomas. — "Languages interest me."
- Te interesa la música. — "Music interests you."
- Te interesan las matemáticas. — "Maths interests you."
- Le interesa la cocina. — "Cooking interests him."
- Nos interesan los deportes. — "Sports interest us."
- Les interesa el cine. — "Cinema interests them."
Common mistakes with interesar in the present tense
These are the errors learners actually make with interesar in the present tense. Each one shows the wrong form, the right form, and why the right form is right.
✗ *Yo intereso la historia (treating interesar like a normal verb).
✓ Correct: Me interesa la historia.
Interesar is gustar-like: the subject is the thing. Say me interesa la historia, never yo intereso la historia.
✗ *Me interesa las ciencias (singular verb with a plural subject).
✓ Correct: Me interesan las ciencias.
The verb agrees with the thing: las ciencias is plural, so the verb is interesan.
✗ *Me interesan aprender idiomas (plural verb with an infinitive).
✓ Correct: Me interesa aprender idiomas.
With an infinitive, always use the singular: me interesa aprender.
✗ *A mi hermano interesa el fútbol (missing the pronoun le).
✓ Correct: A mi hermano le interesa el fútbol.
The pattern needs the indirect object pronoun: a mi hermano le interesa.
Quiz: interesar in the present tense
Eight questions on the present tense of interesar. Choose the best answer for each one, then check the answer key below — every answer is explained.
1. Which is the correct present tense form of interesar for tú?
- a) intereso
- b) interesa
- c) interesan
- d) interesas
2. Complete the sentence: Me ______ el arte moderno. — "Modern art interests me."
- a) interesa
- b) intereso
- c) interesan
- d) interesó
3. Complete the sentence: Me ______ las ciencias. — "Science interests me."
- a) interesa
- b) interesamos
- c) interesan
- d) interesaron
4. Which is the correct present tense form of interesar for nosotros?
- a) interesas
- b) interesan
- c) interesamos
- d) intereso
5. Which sentence uses interesar correctly in the present tense?
- a) Te interesa la música.
- b) Te interesó la música.
- c) Te interesas la música.
- d) Yo intereso el cine español.
6. Which sentence is correct? The books are plural, so the verb must agree with them.
- a) Me interesa los libros de historia.
- b) Me interesan los libros de historia.
- c) Me interesa los libro de historia.
- d) Yo intereso los libros de historia.
7. Complete the sentence: A mi hermano le ______ el fútbol. — "My brother is interested in football."
- a) intereso
- b) interesa
- c) interesó
- d) interesan
8. What is the gerund of interesar?
- a) intereso
- b) interesado
- c) interesamos
- d) interesando
Answer key
d) interesas — The tú form is interesas. The -s ending belongs to tú in the present; intereso is yo, interesa is él/ella and interesan is ellos/ellas.
a) interesa — The sentence needs the él/ella/Ud. form in the present: interesa. The other options are the wrong person or the wrong tense.
c) interesan — The subject is ellos/ellas/Uds., so the present form is interesan.
c) interesamos — Nosotros takes interesamos. In the present the nosotros ending for -ar verbs is -amos, attached to the stem interes-.
a) Te interesa la música. — Te interesa la música. is correct: the verb agrees with its subject. The other sentences use the wrong person or the wrong tense.
b) Me interesan los libros de historia. — Los libros is plural, so the verb must be the ellos form: me interesan los libros. The singular form is only for one thing, and yo intereso treats the verb as if you were the subject, which is wrong for this pattern.
b) interesa — The subject is él/ella/Ud., so the present form is interesa.
d) interesando — The gerund is interesando. It is the form you use with estar for the progressive (estar + gerund), and it is not the past participle interesado.
Frequently asked questions
Is interesar regular in the present tense?
In form, yes — interesar is a regular -ar verb. In use, it is special: it works like gustar, so the thing you love, that interests you or that bores you is the subject, and you are the indirect object (me, te, le). The third-person forms interesa and interesan do almost all the work.
What is the gerund and the past participle of interesar?
The gerund is interesando and the past participle is interesado. Use the gerund with estar for the progressive, and the participle with haber for the perfect tenses.
How do you say "I to interest" in Spanish?
Say intereso. For example: Me interesa el arte moderno. — "Modern art interests me.".
What is the difference between interesar and encantar?
interesar means "to interest", while encantar means "to love". They are related words that learners often meet together, but they are not interchangeable — use interesar when you mean "to interest" and encantar when you mean "to love". The full conjugation of encantar is on its own page.
Related links
- Full conjugation of interesar — every tense and mood, with the complete tables.
- interesar examples and quiz — more sentences, dialogues and a longer quiz.
- Spanish Present tense guide — how the present tense works for all Spanish verbs.
- Spanish verbs — the full list of Spanish verbs on VerbFlow.