About "to" in [be of importance to someone]

Question

Hi,I have two forms of it.Could any native speaker help me to know what is what?1. be of imprtance to me = (my version) be of importance reaching as far as me;2. be of interest to me = (my version) be of interest from me ;-----means it can keep the attention to be given by me;thank you for your assistance.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

I have two forms of it.

Could any native speaker help me to know what is what?

1. be of imprtance to me = (my version) be of importance reaching as far as me;

2. be of interest to me = (my version) be of interest from me ;--means it can keep the attention to be given by me;

I assume you know that something of interest to me is not necessarily of importance to me.

eg a TV show may be of interest to me, but not of importance to me.

I ssume you mean that 'importance comes to me from the thing',

while 'interest comes from me to the thing'.

I'm not so sure about the importance. I think you can argue that I am the one that decides if something is important to me.

Clive

AlpheccaStars · Answer

The expressions "be of interest to" or "be of importance to" are quite formal.

Here are some examples:

The notice of increased rent will be of interest to all the apartment's residents.

Well-written textbooks are of great importance to our students' education.

The findings of this research are of interest to all doctors.

You might find these alternate phrases more useful. They are much more common:

School is important to me.

Getting good grades is important to me.

The tour was wonderful. It had many sights of interest to the visitors.

I browsed the bookshelves, but didn't find anything of interest to me.

Buddy was a person of interest to the police.

Bepleased · Answer

Hi Clive and AlpheccaStars,

Thank you for your elabrate teaching.

Whould you be kind enough to inspect the gain from it and give your openions?

1. It is of interest to me. = (my version) it is of interest that is given to me.

So, [to me] means the action of giving made by me and in one way----that it can not refuse the action of me.

= I interest myself in it. -----I find the quality of interest in it and I interest myself.

The similar sentence:

This is the book which first interested me in English literature. -----because this book has the quality of interest in English literature, so it interested me.

2. It is no use to me. = (my version) It is of no use that is given to me.

-----I can not give use / purpose / reason for my using it.

So, [to me] is the same as the above one.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

AlpheccaStars,1. It is of interest to me.

Opera is of interest to me.

Books about China are of interest to me.

It does not mean that I have opera, or that I have any books about China.

It means that I am interested in them. Maybe I listen to opera on the radio.

Maybe I borrow books about China and read them.

Another way to say this:

I am interested in opera.

I am interested in books about China.

Susan loves herself. She spends a lot of money on herself; designer clothes, shoes, purses, jewelry, hairsyles at the most expensive hair salon, and makeup.

Susan is interested only in herself.

----------

Good health is of importance to me. So I get exercise, take vitamins, eat lots of vegetables and fruit, and get an annual checkup.

AlpheccaStars,2. It is of no use to me.

It means that it is not useful to me. I cannot use it.

For example:

I do not have a horse, and I do not want a horse.

Thus, a saddle and bridle are of no use to me.

Bepleased · Answer

Hi AlpheccaStars,

According to your teaching, I make them self-explanatory.

1. It is of interest to me. (of= containing)

= It is containing interest which cause me to give attention to it.

So, all things in it interest me. = I am interested in it.

[Susan is interested only in herself.] = Only the things in herself interest Susan.

2. It is of importance to me. (of = containing)

= It is containing importance which has effect on me.

3. It is of no use to me. (of = containing)

= It is containing no use / usefulness / advantage that is as a help to me.

Please inspect them and give your opinions.

Thank you for your assistance.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Hi AlpheccaStars,1. It is of interest to me. (of= containing)

If that helps you understand, it is OK.

The to phrase is critical because something that is of interest to me might not be of interest to someone else.

The interest, usefulness, or importance is not a quality in the thing itself.

Opera is of interest to me, but not to my spouse. So I always go to the opera with a friend.

A saddle is of no use to me, but it is of use to an equestrian.

Compare with:

This is a bowl of cereal.

This is a book of poems.

of = containing

The bowl contains cereal. The book contains poems.

It does not matter if I look at it or my spouse looks at it or the cat looks at it. The bowl contains cereal. And the book contains poems.

Bepleased · Answer

Hi AlpheccaStars,

Your elabrate teaching keep the eye open to connotation and mentality of the word of "quality" .

These below are the reaction to [The interset, usefulness, or importance is not a quality in the thing itself.]

----1. [the British quality / character]

----the quality / character as a matrix in which British nation is formed or developed;

----The quality is not a quality in British nation.

----2. She shows qualities / caharacteristics of leadership.

------Leadership is a quality / characteristic in herself.

Wish for your continuing to teach me.

Thank you for your assistance.

Bepleased · Answer

1. [the British national quality / character]

----the quality / character as a matrix in which British nation is formed or developed;

----So, the quality is a quality in itself [= quality / character] as the teaching of AlpheccaStars.

About "to" in [be of importance to someone]

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