Question 1

Why does this sentence use pour la musique instead of à la musique when the verb is s'intéresser à?

Accepted Answer

This is a key trick with nominalization! While the verb is s'intéresser à (to be interested in), the noun form takes a different preposition: un intérêt pour (an interest in). When you turn a verb clause into a noun phrase, always check if the preposition needs to change.

Question 2

Why is there no article between tout and intérêt?

Accepted Answer

When tout means "any" or "all" in a general, absolute sense, it acts directly on the noun without an article. Tout intérêt means "all interest" or "any interest" whatsoever. If you said tout l'intérêt, it would mean "the whole interest," implying a specific, previously defined interest rather than the general concept.

Question 3

How would this sentence look if we used a verb clause instead of the nominalized intérêt?

Accepted Answer

You could say Il ne s'intéresse plus du tout à la musique (He is no longer interested in music at all). Using the nominalized version (perdu tout intérêt) sounds slightly more formal and packs a stronger emotional punch by treating the emotion as an object that was completely lost.

Question 4

I often see de l' with abstract nouns. Why isn't it tout de l'intérêt or de tout intérêt here?

Accepted Answer

Tout acts as an indefinite adjective here, meaning "all" or "any," and it directly modifies the noun intérêt. It completely replaces the need for a partitive article like de l' (some), which you would use if you were just saying Il a perdu de l'intérêt (He lost some interest).

Il a perdu tout intérêt pour la musique.

Breakdown of Il a perdu tout intérêt pour la musique.

Questions & Answers about Il a perdu tout intérêt pour la musique.

Learn Il a perdu tout intérêt pour la musique and more in French