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I've just checked the dictionary about the meaning of the idiom "concerned with" and I found it as a synonym of "interested in". Then I can use "concerned with" in any place of "interested in", or there are some exceptions that I should know?

For example, if I want to buy a nice car, can I say "I'm concerned with this car"? or "I'm concerned with this girl" and so on?

In the same topic, I'd like to know if I can use "concern with" in the past form without "to be" before. (e.i. instead of using "he was concerned with this car", I would omit the "to be" auxiliary verb and I'd say "He concerned with this car")

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No. Remember the following:

concerned
adjective (WORRIED)
troubled with feelings of anxiety:
Sarah is very concerned about your safety.

concerned
adjective (INVOLVED)
​[not gradable] involved or involving:
They say that free trade will benefit all concerned.
Her job is only concerned with costs and fees.
(Cambridge)

The two examples given sound like you're worried about the car and the girl, whereas, without further context, my first impression is that interested in this car means you want to buy it and interested in this girl means you like this girl (or that you want to date her). Also, I think the preferable preposition in either case is about.

Concerned is listed as an adjective, so you cannot drop to be:

He was concerned with this car. [OK]
He concerned with this car. [Not OK]

You can drop to be when concern functions as a transitive verb.

This car concerns me.
This girl concerns me.

In either case, something about them worries you.

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    +1 You are very right. Concerned and interested aren't synonyms. With and about are mostly interchangeable.
    – SovereignSun
    Apr 1, 2017 at 8:49
  • 1+ Thank you for the answer. You considered to the word "concerned" as a singular when I referred to the idiom "concerned with". In my humble opinion that's why we found 2 different definitions (see the link that I put in the beginning of the post).
    – Virtuous Legend
    Apr 1, 2017 at 10:40
  • In the following context which definition will fit the meaning - involved or interested in? "Psychologists are concerned with obtaining knowledge about psychology by conducting rigorous research, which contrasts with lawyers’ use of typically ‘commonsense’ psychology and the reliance placed on their accumulated experience and legal precedents."
    – Virtuous Legend
    Apr 1, 2017 at 10:42
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    @UbiquitousStudent I think the meaning is closer to interested in, but there's a sense of obligation in the feeling too, I think.
    – Em. ♦
    Apr 2, 2017 at 5:38
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When we are interested in something, we have willingly and eagerly given it our attention. It has meaning for us personally.

When we are concerned with something, it is for us the business at hand or a subject of some importance or some troubling issue. It is what we are focusing our attention on at the moment. It is demanding our attention. The degree of our interest in it is unspecified. It may be a nonsensical or very boring task which we are completing only because it is our job to do it. Or it could be something in which we have a keen personal interest or stake.

At the moment, I'm concerned with this citizen complaint about the color of the roses planted in front of the library.

I may be sending the person a form letter which states merely that the complaint has been received and is under advisement. I am busy with the task.

I am concerned with her safety. (or "concerned for her safety").

I am worried about her. She may be in some danger.

You might tell the salesperson you were interested in a particular car. If, after you buy the car, it breaks down twice in the first two weeks, you might phone the dealership and tell them that you are concerned with the car. It seems to be a "lemon".

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  • 1+ Thank you for the answer. But basically you've said that they are not synonym while in the dictionary that I mentioned clearly written that one of the meaning of "concerned with" is "interested in". How do you explain that?
    – Virtuous Legend
    Apr 1, 2017 at 16:56
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If you want to use concern as the synonym of interested in, you have to use the preposition " for" so Concerned for means interested in For example: I'm concerned for that blue car= i'm interested/anxious for that blue car.

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  • Can you provide a source to back that up? It contradicts another answer which, in my view, is correct.
    – mdewey
    May 27, 2021 at 13:09

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