Questions & Answers about Er hat sich nie für Politik interessiert.
Why do we use sich here when the English translation just says "was interested"?
In German, the concept of being interested in something is expressed with the reflexive verb sich interessieren. You are essentially saying that someone "interests themselves" in a topic. Because the subject is Er (he), the required accusative reflexive pronoun is sich (himself).
Why do we use the preposition für instead of a literal translation for "in"?
Many reflexive verbs are paired with fixed prepositions. Sich interessieren always goes with für to introduce the topic of interest. Keep in mind that für always requires the noun that follows it to be in the accusative case.
Where does the reflexive pronoun go when a sentence is in the past tense?
In the spoken past tense (Perfekt), the helping verb (hat) takes the second position. The reflexive pronoun (sich) comes right after it. The main verb turns into a past participle (interessiert) and goes to the very end of the sentence.
Why is there no article like die before Politik?
When talking about general concepts, academic subjects, or broad topics like Politik, Kunst (art), or Musik (music), German often leaves out the article entirely, exactly like we do in English.