Let’s learn how to say “to try to” in Japanese with てみる and てみます

Hello to all of you noble Japanese learners. Let us first congratulate you on taking the steps to broaden your mind by proactively seeking out ways to improve, you’re awesome.

Learning to say “I will try to confess to her” with てみます and てみる

Today we have a fantastic lesson planned for you on てみる (TE MIRU) which means “To try to do” something. This is such a useful phrase for you to learn you are going to be asking yourself how you lived without it. 

We will be breaking today’s online Japnese lesson on てみる down into 5 different segments to make the process as smooth and effective as possible. 

1. We will be looking at the definition of てみる and talk a little bit about what you can do with this awesome new grammar point. 
2. We will take a close look at the grammar of てみる and find out how to create sentences of our own.
3. We will look at some great example sentences to help give you context and get you used to using てみる in various situations. 
4. We will offer a small yet effective study technique to master てみる
5. Lastly we will look at a small summary on てみる to ensure we haven’t missed anything.

Okay everyone strap yourselves in as we “try to” learn about てみる.

Looking at the definition of てみる 

What you can do with this awesome new grammar point

“てみる” or its masu form “てみます” is a greatly effective little piece of grammar to express “to try to do” in Japanese. 

With this grammar added to the end of your verb you can say thing like 

“Try to eat”

“Try to relax” 

“Try to study” etc. 

It is a grammar point that you are definitely going to need to know as it used very commonly in Japan.

As you probably know, Japanese is a very humble language and mostly tries to avoid direct language in formal situations. That’s why rather than saying something direct like “I will help”, it is much more humble and preferable to say “I will try to help.” 

Let’s look now at how the grammar works and how you can build sentences of your own. 

A closer look at the grammar of てみる 

How to create sentences of our own

So to create てみる and てみます form sentences you first need to take a verb and turn it into the て form. From this all you need to do is addてみる or みます and voila, you now have a “try to” verb. 

Take a look at the below chart:

たべるTo eat	Change to Te form	たべて+みる	たべてみるTry to eat
のむTo Drink	Change to Te form	のんで+みる	のんでみるTry to drink

Onec you have てみる and てみます at the end of your very this can be conjugated like any other verb into various tenses too, 

Let’s have a look at a sentence now to get the gist. 

彼女に告白してみます
Kanojo ni kokuhaku shite mimasu
I will try to confess to her. 

Here we have taken こくはくする turned it into こくはくして and added みます.

In this situation you are not sure how it will go or if you will have the confidence to do it or not so　てみる is used. 

Let’s now look at some example sentences with てみる and てみます.

Some great example sentences  

Get used to using てみる in various situations

Take a look at these examples and pay close attention to the verb endings. 

This is a really useful catch all sentence that you can use in various situations. 

それをつかってみる。
sore o tsukatte miru.
I'll try using that.

Look at this next sentence and try to conjugate the verb back to its original form once you have read it for practice.

とにかく、かれのよていをきいてみます。
tonikaku, kare no yotei o kiite mimasu.
Anyway, I'll try asking him about his plans.

As we said previously the endings of the verb can be conjugated. In this case みる becomes みたい to express “WANT to try”

もしおかねがたくさんあったら、なにをしてみたいですか？
moshi okane ga takusan attara, nani o shite mitai desuka?
If you had a lot of money, what would you like to do?

A small yet effective study technique to master てみる

Let’s get practical 

So now we are going to look at a small technique you can use to help you with practicing and getting more confidence with てみる and てみます.

Start by writing a list of 30 things that you would like to do in your life. Go online and find out all of the vocabulary that relates to those. 

Now once you have done that, try to make them all into “Try to” sentences with てみる and てみます. 

Not only will this get you great at using てみる and てみます but it will also give you that extra motivation to learn to say things about you that are relevant and be really useful to you.

Learning things that are more relevant to us and that we will actually use in conversation is so much more worthwhile than an abstract sentence so remember to do this.

A small summary on てみる in Japanese

Let’s  ensure we haven’t missed anything

Now let’s have a look at a small summary.

Japanese is a humble language and likes to avoid being direct

てみる and てみます is used after a verb to indiace “Try to”

To create this form you turn a verb into the TE form and add てみる or てみます

Remember to practice with sentences that you really like and can see yourself using in daily conversation.

So guys we really hope that you have enjoyed today’s online Japanese lesson from Bondlingo on てみる and てみます. If you have any other comments or suggestions around future content that you would like to see please do get in touch. Remember, doing a little everyday will soon build into something great, so give yourself a pat on the back that you are being proactive and taking your progress into your own hands. 

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