The ending 〜てみる transcribed te miru is usually translated as “to try —ing”, and is used to mark an action that you take to see how well it will turn out.
However, this isn’t the only way to say “try” in Japanese! If you want to describe an attempt to complete a task, to see if it’s possible at all, you might want to use 〜(よ)うとする transcribed yō to suru instead.
On top of that, there’s another ending, 〜てみせる (te miseru), which, while it’s fairly different in meaning, is easy to confuse with 〜てみる transcribed te miru!
In this post, we’ll take you through how and when to use 〜てみる transcribed te miru in depth, then look at the differences between 〜てみる transcribed te miru and these other endings. Ready to get started? Let’s give it a try!
How to use 〜てみる [te miru] in Japanese?
The ending 〜てみる transcribed te miru is used a lot like “try —ing” in English. It marks an action that you take “just to try it out.” In this section, we’ll look at how to use this ending in a sentence, when you should use it, and how you can use it in different types of sentences.
How to form a sentence with 〜てみる [te miru]
The expression 〜てみる transcribed te miru is actually the ending from the te-form of a volitional combined with みる transcribed miru.
Volitional Verb
(te-form)
Let’s look at the two pieces of this formula:
A volitional verb, or 意志動詞 transcribed ishi dōshi, is a verb for an action that someone does on purpose, such as 行く transcribed ikumeaning to go, 見る transcribed mirumeaning to look at, and 考える transcribed kangaerumeaning to think. We only use 〜てみる transcribed te miru with these sorts of controlled actions.
みる transcribed miru, in this structure, functions as a helping verb, and is generally written in hiragana. This distinguishes it from the independent verb 見る transcribed miru which means “to look” or “to see”. The conjugation of みる transcribed miru, however, is the same as 見る transcribed miru, which is a ru-verb.
Check out this table of examples to see what 〜てみる transcribed te miru looks like attached to more verbs!
When to use 〜てみる [te miru]?
Broadly, you’ll use 〜てみる transcribed te miru to say you are trying an action out to see whether it works to achieve some goal or to answer a question. Usually, the action is done to “collect data” or information about how well the action works.
You’ll see a range of English translations for this ending such as:
“to try …ing”
“to see if …ing works”
“to try …ing and see”
“to try one’s hand at …ing”
“to give… a try”
But you’ll often use this ending even when a verb like “try” is not needed in the English translation.
Let’s look now at a couple of special rules for using this ending correctly!
Who tried? Restrictions on the subject of a 〜てみる [te miru] sentence
Most often, you’ll use 〜てみる transcribed te miru to mark your own actions (as the speaker).
In a question or invitation, you can also use it to mark the listener’s action.
However, if you want to say that someone else gave something a try, you can’t just use the ending on its own. Instead, you need to make your statement as though you’re reporting what you were told. You’ll usually do this by using a hearsay marker, like 〜そうです transcribed sō desu.
- ❌ジョンさんがやってみます。Transcription: Jon san ga yatte mimasu.
- hearsay marker✅ジョンさんがやってみるそうです。Transcription: Jon san ga yatte miru sō desu.Translation: I’ve heard that John will give it a try.
“Didn’t try”: Can you use 〜てみる [te miru] in a negative sentence?
〜てみる transcribed te miru is mostly used in affirmative sentences. Though technically it’s grammatical in a negative sentence, it usually will not sound natural.
For example, if your coworker asked you…
You would not generally use a negative form of 〜てみる transcribed te miru in your reply.
Instead, you would just say…
“Just a try”: 〜てみる [te miru] actions are small
Using 〜てみる transcribed te miru indicates that the action is experimental, tentative, or a small sample. Adding this ending therefore marks a task as “small” while also indicating that you’re not 100% confident that it will work. Here are a couple places where this might matter.
Don’t attach 〜てみる transcribed te miru to an action that is too large! For example, compare the sentences below.
- ✅弟が作った料理を一口食べてみた。Transcription: Otōto ga tsukutta ryōri o hitokuchi tabete mita.Translation: I had a bite of the dish my younger brother made (to see how it tastes).This sounds natural, because one bite is enough to evaluate how you feel.
- ❓弟が作った料理をたくさん食べてみた。Transcription: Otōto ga tsukutta ryōri o takusan tabete mita.Translation: I ate a large portion of the dish my younger brother made (to see how it tastes).This sounds unnatural, because you would figure out how you felt after the first bite. After that, you’re not “trying” it, you’re just eating it!
You can add this ending to be modest, implying that something you did was “just an attempt” or was “nothing special.” Compare:
- ケーキを焼きました。Transcription: Kēki o yakimashita.Translation: I baked a cake.
- ケーキを焼いてみました。Transcription: Kēki o yaite mimashita.Translation: I tried my hand at baking a cake.
When asking someone to do something, adding 〜てみる transcribed te miru indicates a smaller request, which is more polite as it doesn’t require as much of a person’s commitment.
- ケーキを焼きました。どうぞ召し上がってください。Transcription: Kēki o yakimashita. Dōzo meshiagette kudasai.Translation: I baked a cake. Please have some.
- ケーキを焼きました。どうぞ召し上がってみてください。Transcription: Kēki o yakimashita. Dōzo meshiagatte mite kudasai.Translation: I baked a cake. Please try some (and see how it has turned out).
How to use 〜てみる [te miru] in different kinds of sentences?
So far, we’ve mostly looked at how 〜てみる transcribed te miru can be used in statements. In this section we’ll look at how it can be combined with different sentence endings and expressions to form different kinds of sentences, like invitations, requests, expressions of desire, commands, and more.
Invitations
We’ve already seen, above, that the ending 〜てみませんか transcribed te mimasen ka can be used to invite someone to try doing something:
スキューバダイビングをやってみませんか。Transcription: Sukyūba daibingu o yatte mimasen ka.Translation: Why don’t you try scuba diving?Requests
We’ve also already seen the ending 〜てみてください transcribed te mite kudasai used, above, to politely ask someone to try doing something.
どうぞ召し上がってみてください。Transcription: Dōzo meshiagatte mite kudasai.Translation: Please try some (and see how it has turned out).Expressions of desire
You can use the ending 〜てみたいだ transcribed te mitai da to express your desire in a more modest way. It’s often translated as “would love to…” rather than “want to…”
いつか京都の一流旅館に泊まってみたいです。Transcription: Itsuka Kyōto no ichiryū ryokan ni tomatte mitai desu.Translation: I would love to stay in a first-class Japanese inn in Kyoto some day.Check out our post on expressing your desires in Japanese to learn more about sentence structures like this!
Expressions of volition, will, or intention
You can use the ending 〜てみよう transcribed te miyō to express your will or intention to do something.
わからないところは、明日先生に聞いてみよう。Transcription: Wakaranai tokoro wa, ashita sensei ni kiite miyō.Translation: As for the parts I don’t understand, I’ll ask my teacher tomorrow.Check out our post on the Japanese volitional form to learn more about sentence structures like this!
Commands
In a command, you can use the endings 〜てみろ transcribed te miro or 〜てみなさい transcribed te minasai.
なんだと。もう一度言ってみろ。Transcription: Nan da to. Mō ichido itte miro.Translation: What? Say it again.said by an angry male speakerCheck out our post on commands in Japanese to review this sentence structure.
Dependent events
When you want to mark an event that depends on another event, you can use an ending like 〜てみると transcribed te miruto, 〜てみたら transcribed te mitara, or 〜てみれば transcribed te mireba.
見かけはよくないけど、食べてみたらおいしかった。Transcription: Mikake wa yoku nai kedo, tabete mitara oishikatta.Translation: It doesn’t look appetizing, but when I tried it, it was delicious.
〜てみる [te miru] vs. 〜(よ)うとする [yō to suru]
The endings 〜てみる transcribed te miru and 〜(よ)うとする transcribed yō to suru are both sometimes translated as “to try,” so what’s the difference between these forms and “to try”? There are several!
They attach to different verb forms
Where 〜てみる transcribed te miru combines the -te form of the verb with the helping verb みる transcribed miru, the ending 〜(よ)うとする transcribed yō to suru is combines the volitional form of a verb with the ending 〜うとする (to suru).
They represent different types of “try”
Though both endings can be translated as “to try,” they’re used in different situations:
〜てみる transcribed te miru is used to mark an action that you try out, to see if it works to achieve some goal, or to see what the experience was like.
納豆を食べてみた。Transcription: Nattō o tabete mita.Translation: I tried some fermented soybeans (to see how they tasted).〜(よ)うとする transcribed yō to suru is used to mark an action that you attempt to complete, to see if you can do it at all.
- 納豆を食べようとした。Transcription: Nattō o tabeyō to shita.Translation: I tried to eat fermented soybeans (but couldn’t).
- コンサートのチケットを買おうとしたが、もう売り切れだった。Transcription: Konsāto no chiketto o kaō to shita ga, mō urikire datta.Translation: I tried to buy the concert tickets, but they were all gone.
〜(よ)うとする transcribed yō to suru allows third-person subjects
As explained above, we don’t use 〜てみる transcribed te miru to describe what someone else tried doing — it implies too much that you’re in someone else’s head.
However, a physical attempt is more observable, so it’s perfectly fine to use 〜(よ)うとする transcribed yō to suru with a third-person subject, as long as you’re referring to an attempt in progress or a habitual attempt.
- Habitual Attempt:うちのハムスターはよくケージから逃げ出そうとする。Transcription: Uchi no hamustā wa yoku kēji kara nigedasō to suru.Translation: Our hamster often tries to escape its cage.
- Attempt in Progress:木村さんは自分で家をリフォームしようとしています。Transcription: Kimura san wa jibun de ie o rifōmu shiyō to shite imasu.Translation: Mr. Kimura is attempting to remodel his house by himself.
〜(よ)うとする transcribed yō to suru can be used in negative sentences
While 〜てみる transcribed te miru is almost exclusively used in affirmative sentences, 〜ようとしない transcribed yō to shinai, the negative form of 〜ようとする transcribed yō to suru, is used to say that no attempt or effort was made to do something.
〜ようとしない transcribed yō to shinai sounds a bit critical, something like “doesn’t even try.”
うちの猫はキャットフードを食べようとしない。Transcription: Uchi no neko wa kyatto fūdo o tabeyō to shinai.Translation: Our cat doesn’t (even) try to eat (store-bought) cat food.〜(よ)うとする transcribed yō to suru can attach to unintentional verbs
Unlike 〜てみる transcribed te miru, you can attach 〜(よ)うとする transcribed yō to suru to a verb for a natural occurrence or something that “just happens.” In this case, it just indicates that something is about to happen or set up to happen.
赤い夕日が海の向こうに沈もうとしている。Transcription: Akai yūhi ga umi no mukō ni shizumō to shite iru.Translation: The red sun is about to set over the ocean.
〜てみる [te miru] vs. 〜てみせる [te miseru]
The ending 〜てみせる transcribed te miseru is often used to mark an action someone takes to show someone how to do something, or to otherwise demonstrate what should be done.
- 生徒に次の課題曲を弾いてみせた。Transcription: Seito ni tsugi no kadaikyoku o hiite miseta.Translation: I played the next assigned piece for my student (to show them how).
- 口で説明するより、実際にやってみせた方が早いよ。Transcription: Kuchi de setsumei suru yori, jissai ni yatte miseta hō ga hayai yo.Translation: It’s quicker to teach them how to do it by actually doing it than explaining it in words.
Proving something to others
You can also use 〜てみせる transcribed te miseru to mark an action you’re doing to prove something to others.
Showing your determination
Finally, you can use 〜てみせる transcribed te miseru or show your determination to do something.
When the verb you attach this ending to is a causative verb, it instead expresses that you are determined to make something happen, or determined to make someone do something.
- 必ずこのイベントを成功させてみせる。Transcription: Kanarazu kono ibento o seikō sasete miseru.Translation: I’m determined to make this event a success no matter what.
- 田中君にきっと本音を言わせてみせる。Transcription: Tanaka kun ni kitto hon’ne o iwasete miseru.Translation: I’m determined to make Tanaka speak up and say what he really wants.
To sum up
In this post, we discussed how to use 〜てみる transcribed te miru, and two other Japanese endings, which are similar to it in meaning and structure. Here’s a quick side-by-side comparison!
| Use for… | Structure | |
|---|---|---|
| 〜てみる transcribed -te miru | “try —ing” | -te form + みる transcribed miru |
| 〜ようとする transcribed -yō to suru | “try to —” | volitional form + とする transcribed to suru |
| 〜てみせる transcribed -te miseru | “ — to show them” | -te form + みせる transcribed miseru |
Ready to practice what you’ve learned? Check out our 〜てみる transcribed -te miruactivity sheet to test your skills! Happy learning!
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