Can you 关心 an object?

Question

So, I've used 关心 consistently with people - 关心别人， 关心我的妹妹， but can 关心 be used for object or a phrase??

Example for a phrase 我们关心的应该是房子应该有几间屋子?

Example for an object 吃饭时， 我关心的是调味。 长得怎么样， 我都不管。

Answer 1

关心 can be used for object. 关心国事 (duplicated with one of the answer here) is an example.

However, 关心 is only one of the many translation of "care". For example you could use the other translation of "care" in below sentence in blanket:

"吃饭时， 我关心(在意)的是调味。 样子怎么样， 我都不管"
I cares only about the seasoning (or taste) when I eat, and do not concern about it's appearance.

Answer 2

Yes, you can.

Oxford

VERB

care for

关心国家大事

be concerned about the major issues of one's country

双方共同关心的问题

matter of mutual concern

You above sentences have some grammatical problems but using 关心 in this manner is no problem.

Answer 3

It's almost the same as care in English in terms of its usage. You can replace 关心 with care in English too:

• I only care what it tastes, not what it looks.
• I only care about how many rooms inside a house.

Other examples:

• 我才不关心呢！ Like I cared!
• 关你什么事儿？ Why do you care?

When 关心 is used in polite way, it has more broader meaning:

• 谢谢你对我的关心！ here 关心 can be a polite way of saying thanks for your help, but what you actually did might only give him/her a call or chat with him/her, not really taking care of anything.