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HSS Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

Surprised by, Interested By

Is there any instance where you could only use "surprised by" instead of "surprised at," or "interested by" instead of "interested in"?

Is there any difference between the two:

[1] I was surprised at you.

[2] I was surprised by you.

Or, between the two:

[3] I was interested in you.

[4] I was interested by you.

Thanks in advance.

Hiro
  

Top answer

If I am surprised at you, I find your actions or attitudes surprising, often in a negative sense. If I am surprised by you, it means that you surprise me, or catch me, when I am doing something wrong, like stealing. I can't think of examples of interested by .

— J Lewis

  • If I am surprised at you, I find your actions or attitudes surprising, often in a negative sense.
  • If I am surprised by you, it means that you surprise me, or catch me, when I am doing something wrong, like stealing.
  • I can't think of examples of interested by .
  • I would say interested in is the only right form.
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6 Answers
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If I am surprised at you, I find your actions or attitudes surprising, often in a negative sense.
If I am surprised by you, it means that you surprise me, or catch me, when I am doing something wrong, like stealing.

I can't think of examples of interested by. I would say inter
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0I saw this posting as a result of googling:01blockquote
02br
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10Just thought I'd drop in and say hello to all of the english-speaking Japanese gamers in this thread. I'm from America, and have always been 11font10interested by12font10 Japanese culture, so it was fun to read thoughts from gamers in the Japanese m
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0 Hi HSS02br
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00Saying 'interested in' would certainly be possible. 02br
00In using the word 'by', the speaker used the word 'interest' as a verb in the passive voice and this usage (with by rather than in) tends to sound as though the culture aroused his interest more directly. The culture is the agent -- i.e. it created the interest.0-
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0Hi, Amy.02br
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00So it's like with "interested by" you would most likely be looking upon an action rather than a state?02br
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00[1] I'm always interested by Japanese culture (= A different aspect of the Japanese culture keeps interesting you).02br
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00[2] I'm always interested in Japanese culture (= I have some interest in th
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0 Hi Hiro02br
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00Yes, in your first example it sounds as though various different aspects of Japanese culture keep coming to light, and 01b00every new aspect interests him. 02b00So it basically refers to each arousal of interest as a separate action. The word 'always' basically indicates 'every time'.01b02br
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0I'm going off on a tanget. Would you rather put "the" before "Japanese culture"? This author omitted it. I'm curious.02br
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00Hiro0-
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