てみる
- 1Do something as a trial to see what it is like, often in suggestions with てみてください or wishes with てみたい.Ex. 1
- 2Having actually tried something, report the result or discovery, typically with てみた.Ex. 2
Spelling: みる is normally written in hiragana, not as 見る
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Neutral and common in both speech and writing. てみてください makes a gentle suggestion to try something, and てみたい expresses a wish to try it. The past form often introduces what the speaker discovered, as in example 2. For advice, たらどう and ばいい are the more direct choices.
Note that みる in this pattern is usually written in hiragana, not with the kanji 見る.
Do not use てみた for an attempt that never got under way; てみた means you actually did it, so use ようとした instead.
Note that forms like てみたい and てみてください look ahead to a trial not yet made, so they do not mean the action happened.
- てごらんN3「てごらん」is colloquial and used only from superiors to subordinates, such as parents or teachers, warmly urging the listener to try, with a commanding tone. It cannot be used toward superiors, nor to say you yourself tried something or to describe the result of trying.
- てみせるN2「てみせる」does not mean 'try' but rather actually doing something to show someone (demonstrating), or expressing the speaker's determination to 'definitely do it and show you'; 「てみる」focuses on trying with an undecided outcome. The two cannot be interchanged.
- ようとするN3「ようとする」attaches to the volitional form and focuses on making an effort to carry out an action, often with a nuance of not succeeding; it can also mean 'be about to...' and can describe natural phenomena. 「てみた」means you already tried doing it, so when the action has not been carried out, use 「ようとした」.
- たらどうN4「たらどう」is used specifically to suggest 'how about doing...?', attaches to the ta-form of verbs, and is fairly colloquial; 「てみる」focuses on 'trying to see' and can also describe things you have tried. When urging someone to try, they can combine as 「てみたらどう」.
- ばいいN3「ばいい」attaches to the ba-form and points out a solution of 'doing this will solve it', and can also express wishes, regret, or ask for a solution; 「てみる」attaches to the te-form and focuses on trying something to see the result, which is uncertain. The two can be combined, as in 「聞いてみればいい」.
Unlike てごらん, a softer 'try doing it' said to children or subordinates, and てみせる, doing something to show others or vowing to succeed, てみる simply means trying something out. ようとした marks an attempt or being about to act without implying the action happened, whereas てみた means it was actually done; たらどう and ばいい give advice rather than describe trying.
