auxiliary N4 essential casualpolitewritten
〜てみる — try ~ing (and see)
〜てみる ・ てみる
Builds on て形
Meaning
- try ~ing / do ~ and see — attempt an action to find out how it goes
Key sentence
この服を着てみる。
I'll try this outfit on.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb (て-form) | V-て + みる | 食べる → 食べてみる |
Examples
新しい店に行ってみた。
I tried going to the new restaurant.
一度この薬を飲んでみてください。
Please try taking this medicine once.
もう少し考えてみます。
I'll try thinking about it a bit more.
When you can't use it
- みる here is written in hiragana, not 見る — it has been grammaticalized to 'try' and no longer means literally 'see'. Keep it kana: 食べてみる, not ×食べて見る.
See 〜てみる in real sentences
Jengo shows 〜てみる the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar.