Talk:try

What does "try-hard" mean? Is it simply "to try hard" or is it a noun? &mdash; Paul G 11:15, 28 May 2004 (UTC)


 * It's a noun used at least in Australia for somebody who tries to be something they're not but doesn't quite succeed. Maybe like Eurovision entrants are try-hard rock stars. Oh here's a discussion on Usenet:


 * &mdash; Hippietrail 11:33, 28 May 2004 (UTC)


 * OK, thanks. In your example you use it as adjective - is that a modifier or is this just an adjective, or is it a noun?   OK, it's a noun. &mdash; Paul G 12:16, 28 May 2004 (UTC)

try and verb
Sometimes you read something like "Voldemort tried and killed Harry Potter" as a synonym to "Voldemort tried to kill Harry Potter". Is this correct english? Should it be added to the list?


 * I think you mean "try and" (as an alternative to "try to") which is a colloquialism. It should be avoided in formal writing.
 * Ive never seen it in the past tense. It seems to be mostly used in the present tense imperative, colloquially, for things like a misbehaving kid knocking over a jar of some nasty spilly liquid and then running away and saying "Try and catch me before I do it again!!" Soap 11:49, 12 October 2011 (UTC)

''... There are two forms that consist simply of the lexical base: the plain form, as in [ia], and the plain present tense, as in [ib]. But the verb following and is always a plain form, as is evident when we test with be: We always try and be/*are helpful. In spite of the and, therefore, this construction is subordinative, not coordinative: and introduces a non-finite complement of try. And can be replaced by the infinitival marker to, and being slightly more informal than to.'' (Bolding mine.)
 * The try and construction goes back to the 1600s, so it is well founded. Huddleston and Pullum et al.'s 2002 reference grammar also discussed this idiom on page 1302:

--AnWulf ... Ferþu Hal! 13:50, 12 February 2012 (UTC)
 * They also benote it in their 2005 book:

Translation of 'to attempt' in Japanese
Should the translation note that Japanese uses (Verb)てみる to express attempting? やってみる translates directly to "try to do", and wouldn't be compatible with saying something like 食べてやってみる (the correct version being 食べてみる). 159.28.68.29 02:44, 17 August 2013 (UTC)

Etymology Question
Could this be related to latin tracto/traho, which is supposed to have been borrowed into German as trachten, which can have a very similar meaning? 75.121.178.216 03:32, 7 February 2015 (UTC)
 * Possible, but it would be highly irregular. Spanish has tratar for that, and French has traiter, but neither of those (nor the German form) would be likely to be borrowed into English without a /t/.  Also the meaning of the French term isnt as close as the other two.  Also, if you think of the word trial as being closer to the original sense of the word 'try', it seems more likely that French trier is indeed the original source.  Soap (talk) 01:30, 27 April 2015 (UTC)

RFV discussion: July 2011–February 2012
Rfv-sense: To tire. DCDuring TALK 22:49, 6 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Might this be intended as the same sense as "to put to test" &mdash; e.g. "you're trying my nerves"? Equinox ◑ 20:37, 10 August 2011 (UTC)
 * RFV-failed. - -sche (discuss) 22:02, 16 February 2012 (UTC)

Missing sense, sort of
It's sometimes colloquially used in the imperative to correct somebody, e.g. ''- He's a bit impulsive. - Try repulsive!'' Equinox ◑ 08:38, 31 December 2016 (UTC)

Try and/to do
Page 54 of A Practical English Grammar reads We often use and... instead of to after try / be sure. This is informal. I'll try and phone you tomorrow morning. However, in page 299, it reads To talk about making an experiment - doing something to see what will happen - we use try + -ing. Aren't both statements at odds? --Backinstadiums (talk) 17:42, 25 June 2021 (UTC)

"The judge tried the case" -- what sense is this?
"(law) To put on trial" doesn't seem right, since that would have the accused or defendant (a person) as the grammatical object. Equinox ◑ 21:42, 13 July 2022 (UTC)