intéressant
/ɛ̃.te.ʁɛ.sɑ̃/
The English word 'interesting' is translated into French as intéressant.
intéressant is the most straightforward translation for the English word 'interesting' and is used to describe something that arouses or holds the attention. While intéressant is the standard choice, you might use captivant for something captivating or engaging, fascinant for something fascinating or intriguing or passionnant for something exciting or thrilling.
Meaning: arousing or holding the attention (adj)
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective must agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies. Use the masculine singular form intéressant, the feminine form intéressante, the masculine plural form intéressants or the feminine plural form intéressantes.
How do you pronounce it?
/ɛ̃.te.ʁɛ.sɑ̃/
Did you know?
- If something is 'interesting' in the sense of being a 'good deal' or providing financial advantage, French speakers use intéressant to mean 'affordable' or 'worth it'.
- When a French speaker says c'est intéressant with a rising intonation, it can function as a question or a challenge, implying 'Are you sure about that?'
- In a polite conversation, using intéressant can sometimes be a subtle way to express skepticism or lack of enthusiasm, much like using 'interesting' in English to avoid saying 'I do not believe you'.
Examples in context
- Waouh ! Intéressant !Wow! Interesting!This example shows how to use intéressant as an exclamation.Tatoeba #10134949 by Micsmithel, translation #10120010 by Suroosh
- Ça a l'air intéressant.That sounds really interesting.This example shows how to use intéressant with the phrase 'ça a l'air' (it looks/sounds).Tatoeba #496972 by sacredceltic, translation #36524 by CK
- Quel livre intéressant !What an interesting book this is!This example shows how to use intéressant to modify a noun in an exclamation.Tatoeba #1050969 by sacredceltic, translation #55851 by CK
- Le livre que j'ai lu était très intéressantThe book I read was very interesting
- J'ai vu un film captivant hier soirI saw a captivating movie last night
- Le musée d'art contemporain était fascinantThe contemporary art museum was fascinating
- Le livre que j'ai lu était intéressant à mort!The book I read was interesting as hell!
- 564 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Gabriel and Emma are talking about a documentary.
- GabrielJ'ai regardé un film très intéressant.I watched a very interesting movie.
- EmmaC'était sur quel sujet ?What was it about?
- GabrielC'est un documentaire intéressant sur l'espace.It is an interesting documentary about space.
- EmmaJe veux le voir aussi !I want to see it too!
Sources
- Wiktionary, “interesting” translations and entries intéressant, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
