Log inSign up

Beaucoup de téléspectateurs s'intéressent à la politique.

Beaucoup de téléspectateurs s'intéressent à la politique.
A lot of viewers are interested in politics.
From Lesson 285:The impersonal expression (il s'agit de)·French

Questions & Answers about Beaucoup de téléspectateurs s'intéressent à la politique.

Why is it s'intéressent à instead of s'intéressent dans if the English says 'interested in'?
In French, the reflexive verb s'intéresser is always followed by the preposition à when introducing the thing you are interested in. You cannot use dans here, so it is best to memorize s'intéresser à as a single fixed phrase.
How does s'intéresser à differ from this lesson's focus, il s'agit de?
S'intéresser à expresses a personal interest in something (the viewers are interested in politics). In contrast, il s'agit de is an impersonal expression that means 'it is about' or 'the topic is' (for example, il s'agit de politique would mean 'it is about politics').
Since téléspectateurs is plural, why is it beaucoup de and not beaucoup des?
Expressions of quantity, such as beaucoup, trop, or un peu, are followed by a simple de (or d') when talking about things in general. You drop the plural article les, which means there is no les for de to combine with to form des here.
Why do we need the article la in la politique when English just says 'politics'?
French requires definite articles (le, la, les) when talking about general categories, concepts, or abstract ideas. Since this sentence talks about politics in general rather than a specific political event, you must include la.

Learn Beaucoup de téléspectateurs s'intéressent à la politique and more in French

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning French →