Hear this a lot in shows and stuff. It isn’t too bad.

Sources:

Tae Kim: Try

Tae Kim Complete: Try

Japanese Stack Exchange: Saying “try” in Japanese

てみる

Structure: Gerund of a V + みる. Results in a compound verb.

Use: To indicate that you are going to “try something out” / “experimenting”. Such as a new food, or activity. “Do V and see”. Tho, it is a set phrase, so the kanji for “to see” is not used.

Ex.

お好み焼きを初めて食べてみたけど、とてもおいしかった - “I tried eating okonomiyaki for the first time, and it was very delicious”

授業に出てみたけど、眠くなていたね - “I tried going to class, but I became sleepy”

明日、別の場所で泳いでみる - “Tomorrow I will try to swim at another place”

たくさん新しい海外の食べ物を食べてみたいの - “I want to try and eat lots of new foreign food”

ようとする

Structure: Volitional/Consultative Form of V + と + する

Use: To indicate that you are going to “attempt something”. Such as something you are unsure you can complete.

Ex.

毎日運動しようとしているけど毎日失敗している - “Every day I attempt to exercise, but everyday I fail”

先週には彼女と会おうとしたんですよ - “I attempted to meet her last week”

次回終了に行こうとする - “Next time, I will attempt to go to the end”

試す

Structure: Use as a regular verb.

Use: Used for trying something out, but mainly used on nouns and such.

来週新しいメニュを試す - “I will try out a new menu next week”

今週建設の別の方法を試しているよ - “We are trying out another construction method this week”

Ex.

試みる can similarly be used for “to try something and see the effect”. But used more commonly in some phrases than others. Just need to be on the lookout for it.

Ex.

説得を試みた - “I tried to persuade”




Vocab:

Here are some kanji from the lessons that I wasn’t really familiar with at this point:

  • 授業. Seen it around a lot. Means “class/lesson”. Pronounced “jugyou”