For example my friend ask me: 車は好き? (Are you interested in cars?) And I
respond: 車についてあんまり気になってない. (I am not interested in cars)
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-06-11T09:03:36.840
99898
2023-06-11T19:44:47.750
38369
question
spoken-language conversational
Is it possible to use phrase 「気になってない」if you are not interested in something?
Yes it is, 気になる (and it's transitive counterpart 気にする) can mean "fascinate",
"engross" (i.e. positively capture someone's attention), it can also be used
to mean "bother", "annoy" (i.e. negatively capture someone's attention). See
the examples:

> 車はめっちゃ気になる  
>  I'm really into cars. (Cars really grab my attention)

> あいつの喋り方は気になる  
>  That guy's way of talking annoys me. (That guy's way of talking really
> grabs my attention)

> 彼の仕草は気にしないよ  
>  I don't care about his gestures. (His gestures do not grab my attention)

As for the difference between 気になってない and 気にならない, 気になってない means right now you
are in the state of not caring about something, while 気にならない means you will
not care about something in the future, or that something will not grab your
attention.

> 車は気にならない  
>  I won't be interested in cars. (Cars cannot/will not grab my attention)

> 車は気になってない  
>  I'm not into cars. (Cars do not have my attention, as of now)

For a word that's used purely in the positive sense, you may want to consider
the word 興味(ある), meaning "interest".

> 車には興味がない  
>  I don't have interests in cars. (I'm not interested in cars)  
>  車には興味がある  
>  I have interests in cars. (I am interested in cars)
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-06-11T18:58:31.600
99907
2023-06-11T19:44:47.750
2023-06-11T19:44:47.750
39855
39855
99898
answer