= Max Nihongo oshiete miru?
= Do you want to try teaching Japanese, Max?
「あとでね…」
= Ato de ne…
= Maybe later…
Hello, everyone!
久しぶり！( = hisashiburi) Long time no see!
マギーです。ただいま！ ( = Maggie desu. Tadaima!) I’m Maggie, and I am back!
お待たせしました! ( = Omatase shimashita.) Thank you so much for waiting!
またここに戻って来られてとっても嬉しいです! ( = Mata koko ni modotte korarete tottemo ureshii desu.)
It is SOOO nice to be back here!
Before we begin, please check out the “About Us” page we just added. I guess it is about the time to introduce us properly.
As we mentioned there, if your dogs or cats are interested in teaching Japanese with us, send us their pictures! Contact information is on that page.
**********
OK, today I will teach you Japanese with Max. He is my old buddy.
We will teach you how to use ” Verb て ( = te) みる” ( = te) miru
(* Volitional verb)
You use it when you try something out, to attempt to do something / to give it a shot
Note : You also use non-volitional verb + てみる ( = temiru) in a conditional form but I will concentrate volitional verb in this lesson.
!to right! How to form:
★Present tense
Verb て ( = te) form + みる ( = miru) / (polite) みます ( = mimasu)
Ex. 食べる( = taberu) = to eat
Verb て ( = te) form：食べて ( = tabete) + みる ( = miru)
/ (polite) みます ( = mimasu)
食べてみる ( = tabete miru) / (polite) 食べてみます(=tabete mimasu)
Ex. やる( = yaru) = to do
Verb て ( = te) form: やって ( = yatte) + みる ( = miru)/(polite) みます ( = mimasu)
やってみる ( = yatte miru) / (polite) やってみます ( = yatte mimasu)
Ex. 遊ぶ ( = asobu) = to play
Verb て ( = te) form: 遊んで ( = asonde) + みる ( = miru)
遊んでみる ( = asonde miru ) / (polite) 遊んでみます ( = asonde mimasu.)
★Past tense Verb て ( = te) form +みた ( = mita) / (polite) みました ( = mimashita)
Ex. 歌う(=utau) = to sing
Verb て ( = te) form: 歌って（ = utatte) + みた ( = mita) / (polite) みました ( = mimashita)
歌ってみた ( = utatte mita) / (polite) 歌ってみました ( = utatte mimashita)
Ex. 来る ( = kuru) = to come
Verb て ( = te) form: 来て（=kite) + みた ( = mita) / (polite) みました ( = mimashita)
来てみた ( = kite mita) / (polite) 来てみました ( = kite mimashita)
:kkk: Negative form
★ present tense
＊Verb て ( = te) form : てみる ( = ~ te miru ) / (polite) Verbてみます ( = ~ te mimasu)
Verb てみない ( =~ te minai) / (polite) Verb てみません ( = ~ te mimasen)
★past tense
＊Verb てみた ( = ~te mita) / (polite) Verbてみました ( = ~ te mimashita)
Verb てみなかった( = ~ te minakatta) / (polite) Verb てみませんでした ( = ~ te mimasen deshita)
★When to use this form::ii:
*When you attempt to do something casually just to see what will happen or just to see what it’s like. We also use it when you are trying to do something that should produce certain expected results.
Let’s compare the following two sentences.
:u:
Ex. 1) 日本語を教えます。
= Nihongo wo oshiemasu.
= I will teach Japanese.
Ex. 2) 日本語を教えてみます。
= Nihongo wo oshiete mimasu.
= I will try teaching Japanese. (I will teach as a trial and see how it goes.)
If you look up the meaning of Vてみる( = ~ te miru) in the dictionary, it says “to try”.
Don’t get confused and think that it means to make an effort to do something.
It means “to try doing something” or “to give something a try to see how it goes”.
Ex. ちょっとやってみます。
= Chotto yatte mimasu.
= I will give it a try. (to see how it goes / for fun)
Ex. 彼女をデートに誘ってみた。
= Kanojo wo deito ni sasotte mita.
= I gave it a shot and asked her out (on a date).
Ex.骨をソファーの下に隠してみました。
= Hone wo sofaa no shita ni kakushite mimashita.
= I hid a bone under the couch
Ex. 少し考えてみます。
= Sukoshi kangaete mimasu.
= I will think about it.
Ex. 行けるところまで行ってみよう。
= Ikeru tokoro made itte miyou.
= Let’s go as far as we can./ I will try going as far as I can.(to see how it goes.)
Ex. もう一度、父と話し合ってみます。
= Mou ichido, chichi to hanashiattemimasu.
= I will try to talk to my father again.
Ex. 明日までにやってみます。
= Ashita made ni yatte mimasu.
= I will see what I can do by tomorrow. / I will try to do it by tomorrow.
Note: You may hear this kind of expression often in the business world in Japan.
If you say,
:u:
明日までにやります ( = Ashita made ni yarimasu), it means, “I will do it by tomorrow.”
But if you say やってみます ( = yatte mimasu), it means you are not promising anything, but you can show that you are going to try.
*When you ask someone to give it a try to see what it’s like./ When you give advice to try doing something.
Ex. これ食べてみる？（casual)
= Kore tabete miru?
= You wanna a bite? / You wanna try a bite of this?
Ex. 新しい店に行ってみませんか？
= Atarashii mise ni itte mimasen ka?
= Would like to go to a new store/restaurant/bar?
Ex. 彼にそのことを話してみたらどうですか？
= Kare ni sono koto wo hanashite mitara doudesu ka?
= Why don’t you talk to him (your boyfriend) about it?
Ex. ダメもと*で彼女に電話をしてみたら？
= Damemoto de kanojo ni denwa wo shite mitara?
= Why don’t you give her a call. You won’t lose anything.
(Note: ダメもと(で）( = damemoto(de) ) a colloquial expression meaning roughly “you won’t lose anything by doing something)
Ex. 採用されるかどうかわからないけれども履歴書を送ってみたらどう？
= Saiyou sareru ka douka wakaranaikeredomo rirekisho wo okutte mitara dou?
= Even if you don’t know whether they will hire you or not, why don’t you try sending them your resume?
:purple: *When you tell someone to try doing something.
Ex. 彼がまだ私のことが好きかどうか聞いてみて下さい。
= Kare ga mada watashi no koto ga suki ka douka kiite mite kudasai.
= Can you ask him if he still likes me or not?
Ex. コンピューターを一度再起動してみて頂けますか？
= Konpyuutaa wo ichido saikidou shite mite itadakemasu ka?
= Could you try restarting your computer once?
Note : imperative form (rough/vulgar/male speech) : When you tell people what to do strongly/ When you challenge people to do something.
~てみろ ( = te miro)
Ex. やってみろ！
= Yattemiro!
= Do it! / Try it yourself!
:jjj: When you find out something after doing certain things or passing by the time
Ex. 彼の家に行ってみると誰もいなかった。
= Kare no ie ni itte miru to dare mo inakatta.
= I went to his house but nobody was there.
Ex. 自分が親になってみて初めて子育ての大変さがわかった。
= Jibun ga oya ni natte mite hajimete kosodate no taihensa ga wakatta.
= When I became a parent myself, I came to realize how hard it is to be a first time parent.
Ex. シェアハウスは住んでみると意外に快適だ。
= Sheahausu wa sunde miruto igai ni kaiteki da.
= After living in a share house for a while, I found it more comfortable than I thought it would be.
:jjj: When you show your desire to attempt to do something.
:u:
★～てみたい ( = ~ te mitai =) would like to try to do something,
* 食べてみたい ( = tabete mitai) would like to eat
Ex. あのお寿司屋さんで一度食べてみたいと思っていたんだ。(casual)
= Ano osushiyasan de ichido tabete mitai to omotte itanda.
= I’ve always wanted to eat at the sushi restaurant.
* やってみたい ( = yatte mitai) would like to do
Ex. 死ぬまでにやってみたいこと。
= Shinu made ni yatte mitai koto.
= Things that you would like to do before you die. / A bucket list.
* 会ってみたい ( = atte mitai) would like to meet/see
Ex. マギー先生に会ってみたかった。
= Maggie sensei ni atte mitakatta.
= I wish I could see Maggie. (I wanted to see Maggie Sensei.)
* 泳いでみたい ( = oyoide mitai) would like to swim
Ex. 沖縄のきれいな海で泳いでみたい。
= Okinawa no kireina umi de oyoide mitai.
= I would love to swim in the beautiful ocean in Okinawa.
:n: Note : The difference between V+たい ( = tai) and V + てみたい ( = temitai)
Ex. a) 日本に行きたい ( = Nihon ni ikitai)
Ex. b) 日本に行ってみたい ( = Nihon ni itte mitai)
They both can be translated as “I would like to go to Japan”, but V+たい ( = tai) simply shows your desire to go whether you have been to Japan or not. V+てみたい ( = temitai), however, can only be used if you have never been to Japan.
Related lesson : ~ たい ( = tai)
マギー先生より ( = Maggie Sensei yori ) From Maggie Sensei
マックス、ありがとう！( = Max Sensei arigatou!) Thank you, Max!
日本語を教えてみてどうだった？ ( = Nihongo wo oshiete mite doudatta?)
How did you like teaching Japanese as a trial?
Max: 「やってみる価値はあったよ。」( = Yatte miru kachi wa atta yo.) It was worth trying!
***
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87 Comments
Hi Sensei,
Thank you very much for your lessons.
I want to ask a question
ある日、西岡君に「なぜそんなに成績がいいの」と聞いてみたことがある。
Here , what does”聞いてみたことがある” means
and also the meaning of “なぜそんなに”
Hello Prati
When you talk about one’s experience, (have done something) you use
verb past tense + ことがある (Check this lesson for more details.)
So 聞いたことがある means “I have asked Nishioka-kun”(the translation could be just “I asked Nishiokakun one day.”
なぜ = why
そんなに = so / such (emphasis)
Hi, maggie先生. I was wondering if it was possible to combine this form てみる with もいいですか。Let’s 食べてみてもいいですか is this correct?
Hello denisse,
Yes, you can say 食べてみてもいいですか？
So when you ask for a permission to try something
Verb てもいいですか？ = Can I try?
やってみてもいいですか？
飲んでみてもいいですか？
Thanks for all the explanations!
I’ve been looking for an answer to something for a while, but I haven’t found it yet, so I think it’s best to ask you here: what is it called when a common verb (like 見る or 来る) is used (usually following て form) to modify the meaning?
Thanks again for all the effort you put into your lessons!
Hi Kata Waya
Hmm I wonder you meant subsidiary verbs, 補助動詞（ほじょどうし=hojo doushi)
Verb te-form + subsidiary verbs (おく、みる、いく、くる）
ありがとうございました。質問があります🙏、Can I use「て形 + みて(い)た」? いいですか?、Is that ok? 例えば、「食べてみてた」like “I was trying to eat”. Or「それ見つけてみてた」”I was trying to find that”.正解ですか?。Can be use it like that? Or also with てみてる? like 「食べてみてる」”I have been trying to eat”?
Hello David,
~てみる・みた usually describes one time action but I guess for example, if there are many sample foods and someone was trying to taste everything, you may say
すべての試食品を食べてみていた
Thank you very much! My native language is スペイン語, and sometimes when I wanna express my ideas in Japanese, I don’t know if the way that I’m using sound wrong or not, in my language sound pretty well in that way haha
That’s why learning language is fun!
I’m always here for you! 😉
You are the best
🐶❤️❤️
Hi Sensei!
Would a sentence like this make sense using たがる and てみます for expressing what other people want to try to do?
A 「彼女はすしを食べてみたがります」, or
B 「 彼女はすしを食べたがってみます」
“She wants to try and eat sushi.”
There’s every chance this may be completely wrong!
Thank you in advance for your help.
K
Hi Krisztina
In that case,
彼女はすしを食べたがります
彼女はすしを食べたがっています
are more natural.
But in the situation that she has never tried sushi before and keeps saying “I want to try sushi!” “I want to try sushi!” then, it might be possible to say 食べてみたがります. B sounds strange anyway. It sounds like trying to want to eat sushi.
Thank you very much for your quick reply, Maggie-sensei. It’s hard to know what sounds natural when you’re not a native speaker! I think the rule of thumb I need to follow is to just keep it simple :-)
(Also, if at all possible, would you be able to remove my last name from the previous comment? It was an auto-fill accident! I’m happy to re-post my original comment again for the benefit of others’ learning.)
Hi K,
Sure, no problem. (I erased your last name from the previous comment so don’t worry. )
Hello, maggie sensei 😊
Just a slight question, but while reading ４月は君の嘘，a character uses 見てみなよ，which is an imperative negative, as an imperative positive. Could you please explain ?
Hi ピエール
Vてみて(よ)→(male speech, rough speech ) Vてみな(よ)
The translation could be “Why don’t you V?” but it is actually not an imperative negative. It is an affirmative form.
Vてみる= try to do something/ give it a try ~ ing
So 見てみなよ = (Why don’t you take a look at something) = Take a look at something.
見てみてよ→male speech 見てみなよ
〜てみる→imperative form male speech
ありがとう😊
どういたしまして💕
Hi Maggie, can you please explain me the difference between ~てみるand ~ようとする.
Like, for example: 作てみる and 作ろうとする, or 作てみた and 作ろうとした
I know how to conjugate the verbs using this ~ようとする, but I would like to understand more about the difference between these two.
I heard that with ~ようとする it means to try but it doesn’t mean that I will really do it.
Is it corret?
Hi Eliza,
First 作ってみる not 作てみる
For example, you found an recipe which looks good and want to make that food.
美味しそうだから作ってみます。/ 作ってみる= It looks delicious so I will give it a try and make it. (You are talking about future.)
美味しそうだから作ってみました。/ 作ってみた = It looked delicious so I gave it a try and made it. (You actually made it.)
美味しそうだから作ってみようとした means you tried but you didn’t make it for some reason.
美味しそうだから作ってみようとしたけれども材料がなかった。= It looked so delicious that I was going to make it but I didn’t because I didn’t have ingredients.
When someone is trying to make it, you can say
妹はまだ小さいのに料理を作ろうとしている。My younger sister is still small but she is trying to cook something.
Oh, no… I am so embarassed for making this mistake with 作ってみる
恥ずかしい…
But anyway, thank you for your attention to reply me.
Note: I’m brazilian, so forgive me if I make some mistakes when I write in English.
You’re very welcome, Eliza! 😊
Can this pattern be used in sentences like- I will try to fit in this dress??
You mean when you try some clothes on?
Sure, このドレスを試着（しちゃく）してみます。
Thanks Maggie I love your work! Whenever I am looking for an answer and I Google it I always end up on your site and I love the way you present the information and the quirkiness of the site with the 犬と猫。I am just 18 months into my 日本語journey but loving it! どもありがとございいます。
Hello Andrew!
Thank YOU so much for visiting this site.
I am happy to hear you are enjoying your 日本語 journey!
The key to improve Japanese or any languages is to enjoy studying it.
がんばって！
Just wanted to say how much this helped me. :D I thought that a singer was saying “頑張って見る” and that didn’t make any sense to me. Now I learned about the ~てみる, it makes sense lol
ありがとうございました!
がんばってみる = give it a try and do one’s best.
I am glad to hear it makes sense now. ☺️
“Note : You also use non-volitional verb + てみる ( = temiru) in a conditional form but I will concentrate volitional verb in this lesson.”
うーん, 気になった！
マギー先生、can you give an example of 〜てみる using a non-volitional verb?
I tried to make a sentence in the conditional form but can’t seem to find any that makes sense.
E.g. 疲れてみたら… If you are going to try (and see what happens when you) get tired? Er…
Am I misunderstanding what you meant with the conditional form ?
Haha I don’t remember well what I meant but sorry for the confusion.
It is rare and conversational so you don’t have to worry about it.
I think what I meant was some intransitive non-volitional verbs such as 助かる／広まる／こわれる, etc.
When you find out something after something happens
Ex. ケータイが壊れてみてどれだけ便利だったか気がついた。
I found out how convenient to have a cellphone after it broke.
Aaah! I get it now. ありがとうございました、マギー先生！
い〜え、悩ませてごめんなさい。😉
What does みたり mean?
~てみたり
Check my たり lesson. Click → here
Hi I have some doubts with the て form,I couldnt find the main て form page so I am gonna ask here if you dont mind :)
So lets say I finished doing something today
たとえば
私は今日宿題をやってた
それとも
私は今日宿題をやった
何が正しいですか^
Like I am not sure when to use Verb+て+た form and Verb+た form
Thank you
@Chibainu
Hello Chibainu,
* 宿題をやっていた= I have been doing my homework./ I was doing my homework. (describe what you were doing.)
→Casual contraction (skipping い)
宿題をやってた (grammatically wrong but we use this form a lot in conversation)
If you want to learn more about this form, go check this lesson. (Casual contraction)
* 宿題をやった = I did my homework/ I finished my homework/ I have done my homework. (completion of the action)
Oh oh i see
So て+た is for something I have been doing sometime ago in the past!
昨日花を見てた
I was looking at flowers yesterday
分かりました
ありがとうございます！
そのペイジ見ました。じゃあ それは目上と教師に話す時使わないほうがいいですよね？
@Chibainu
見ていた→casual contraction 見てた
学校のクラスや試験、作文では「い」を入れた方がいいかもしれませんね。でも悪い言葉ではありません。発音で「い」が自然に抜けることもあるので会話では先生もきっと使っていると思いますよ。(^з<)ー★
彼女が指差している先を見上げて見ると…。
Then they saw where she was pointing
¿Is raight?
@Kaede
I don’t know who the doer is from one sentence but you got the meaning right.
This phrase is the extraction of a video, and indeed “they” are the three protagonists.
If you really believe that I did well, then as if I could cry for the T-T emosion
@Kaede
OK, just one thing. The position of “then”
They saw where she was pointing and then..
Now you can cry. You did well! :)
XD I see
“They tried to see where she was pointing” is better?
@Kaede
There is not connotaton of “try to” in the sentence. Just the last と… implies there is something in that direction where she was pointing at. So you can just translate it with “when” as well.
When they looked at the direction where she was pointing….
Hi sensei, I have a question regarding the imperative form of “te miru”.
Is it “te miro” or “te miyo”?
The masu-stem of “miru” is “mi” isn’t it?
Besides, in Sanada Maru drama I heard them say ????? and the English translation was “Speak up”.
Thank you.
sorry sensei, ????? = 申してみよ
Please edit if possible.
Thanks
＠Ali
Hi Ali,
The imperative form of “te miru” is “te miro” and “te miyo”. “te miyo” is an old form so you may hear/see it in historical stories, Samurai drama, etc.
Hello Maggie-sensei~! I’ve been using this site for reference for a while, but looking at this lesson, I couldn’t answer the question I had. :cryingboy:
Can you tell me if 「食べてみ」 and 「クリックしてみ」, or other verbs like that are just a shortened/colloquial form of ～てみる? Thank you so much for your reply, I appreciate it~! !heartsippai!
@Mori
Hi Mori,
Yes, ~てみ is a colloquial form for V+てみて(ください）
Hi sensei, I’m sorry to ask you this kind of question here but truth is, this is a little thing that’s annoying me a lot during my studies. It’s about the na adjectives.
“jibun ga oya ni natte mite hajimete kosodate no taihensa ga wakatta.”
Why the “sa” after taihen? I mean, wasn’t that “sa” only for the I adjectives? Since the na adjectives are also nouns, it confuses me a lot when I look up a word on a dictionary and it defines it as a noun, “inconvenience”, for example. But then I see the word used as a na adjective, meaning “inconvenient”, I guess. So, I can say “fuben na tokoro” as “inconvenient place” or “sonna fuben” as “what an inconvenience” (as a noun), true?
And why the “sa” after some na adjectives? It doesn’t appear in my dictionary so I don’t know about it. Thanks a lot and sorry for all the trouble! !heart3!
@Rhi
Hello Rhi!!
First nominalization with さ(=sa) is not just with i-adjective. It also works with na-adjetive.
Since the na adjectives are also nouns, it confuses me a lot
→na-adjectives are not nouns.
I think it will be easier for you to think the plain form of na-adjecitve is ~ な
*元気な = genkina Ex. 元気な子供= genkina kodomo = a cheerful child
*きれいな=kireina Ex. きれいな絵= kireina e = a beautiful picture
And the way you make a noun from na-adjective is
1) delete な(=na) *元気な = genkina →元気=genki
2) add さ(=sa) 元気さ= genkisa = cheefulness
Therefore
大変な（＝taihenna) →大変さ(=taihensa)
きれいな(=kireina) →きれいさ(=kireisa)
不便な(=fubennna) →不便さ(=fubennsa)
Oh but then, a word like “shiawase”, that is used as a na adjective “shiawase na hito”, is also the noun for happiness, isn’t it?
Or “fuan”, according to my dictionary it means anxiety and also “fuan na hito/ fuan ni naru” are listed as examples. That’s pretty much what confuses me, in my dictionary almost all na-adjectives are also listed as nouns, and most of them appear with a noun description, so I don’t know well how to treat them. If, for instance, I can add -sou to a noun, so with the shiawase example “shiawasesou” would be correct? Another example, with “kiken = danger, hazard; na adjective and noun”, So is kiken also the noun for “danger”? Or do I have to add -sa to all na adjectives to make their noun form :/
Thank you!! !happyface!
@Rhi
Maybe the dictionary that you use confuses you.
na-adjectives are adjectives. They are not nous.
“shiawase-na” is an adjective and it means “happy” and “shiawase” is a noun and it means “happiness”
“fuan-na” is an adjective “anxious” and “fuan” is a noun “anxiety”
Either na-adj and i-adj modify a noun.
“shiawase-na hito” itself is a noun “a happy person” but
“hito” is a noun and “shiawase-na” is an adj that modifies a noun,”hito”
This is unrelated to this particular post, but I wanted to ask a certain question about something new I saw. The sentence
まったくもって1ミリたりとも
According to the following news article, it appears that the word 1ミリ, which is supposed to mean “1 millimeter,” has started to be used figuratively in a lot of contexts.
http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXBZO12966720X10C10A8000000/
In this 1ミリたりとも, for example, meaning “not even 1 millimeter of …” Have you ever seen such a thing before?
@Tosiaki
Hi Tosiaki,
I think I taught that word once on Twitter before.
Yes, the direct translation is １ミリも or (stronger) １ミリたりとも “not even 1 millimeter” and we use it when we deny something strongly.
Ex. １ミリたりとも譲れない= it is not negotiable
Though the politicians use it, it is often used in a colloquial way.
Ex. １ミリも知らなかった= didn’t know about something at all.
Ex. １ミリも許せない= can’t allow at all
お帰りなさい。いつも新しいレッスンを楽しみにしています。相変わらず分かりやすいです。:-)
It’s very interesting, I hadn’t thought of てみる as a way to soften a comment. Similar to English that way.
When talking about something you tried out and found that it was X, the てみる is used to add emphasis/show that the result was different than expected, right? Looking at the examples, it seems like without てみる the meaning is basically the same.
I was also wondering on the example 「彼の家に行ってみると誰もいなかった」could you use the other kind of trying: 彼の家に行こうとしたが誰もいなかった。
Ok? Or does it not work with 「誰もいなかった」because you did actually physically go there / you weren’t stopped from going.
Another example, could you say either:
レストランに行ってみると満室でした when I went to the restaurant, I found it was full
レストランに行こうとしたが満室でした I tried to go to the restaurant, but it was full
Thank you!
@elainelinc
Hello, elainelinc!
ただいま〜！いつもこのサイトに来てくれてありがとう！
Now I will show you the difference between 行ってみると—- and 行こうとすると….
While 行ってみると means you actually went there and found out something, 行こうとすると…means when you are about to leave/when you attempt to go somewhere/whenever you attempt to go somewhere, something happens and you can’t go. So 行ってみると means you actually go somewhere but 行こうとすると means you are not actually in that place. It just focuses on your action trying going somewhere.
So レストランに行こうとしたが満室でした/彼の家に行こうとしたが誰もいなかった。don’t sound natural because the speakers actually went to the restaurant or his house.
〜に行こうとしたら親に止められた。= I was going to go ~ but my parents stopped me.
明らかに説明してくれてありがとう。いまから「て見る」は使いやすくなります。
This is very helpful. Thank you! I’ve always had some trouble with knowing when to use verb-おうとする and when to use てみる. This explanation helps a lot.
@elainelinc
どういたしまして！
（A little correction : 明らかに : You wanted to say “clearly”? In this case, “clearly” is はっきりと but how about わかりやすく？）
これからも日本語がんばってね！:)
それは試してみました。;-) ありがとう。
Hello Maggie-sensei!
I’m new to this site, although I have visited a few times in the past. In most of the sites I have gotten confused reading chats between various people trying to explain to each other slight grammatical nuances.
However I came again today for a better explanation of ageru/kureru/morau endings and I really liked the quality of your lesson! After reading around I also noticed how responsive you are to everyone’s responses. (and how colorful your lessons are) So I decided to post and plan more future visits. :)
I did have a question since I don’t see a lesson for it. I don’t need a full blown explanation but I’ve seen the kakeru paired with several verbs and the meaning has never been consistent. If you could explain it would be greatly appreciated!
@nyoro
Hello nyoro! Welcome to our site!
As for your request, V＋かける, someone else has just asked me to explain the meaning/usage of かける and it is already added to the request list. So I will make a lesson for you. I still have a long list of request but please wait patiently. :)
ありがとうございます！必ず楽しみにします。
@nyoro
はい、待っていてくださいね♩
（a little correction : →とても楽しみにしています。）
Maggie Sensei, お元気ですか. I’m new to this site, having only just begun visiting this week; but I have learned plenty. どうもありがとうございます！ However being new also means I haven’t really gotten around to learning how to navigate this website properly and I have a few questions regarding colloquial grammar. I frequently hear in casual speech the ‘te’ form being followed immediately by ‘ます’ or た and ました without any ‘i’ sound. Is it just a result of slurring because it’s easier to say without an ‘i’, or is it a correct construction?
Example:
食べてます
聞こえてました
見てた
@Blossom
Hello Blossom! はじめまして！Welcome to our site! :)
There is no proper way to use this site. Go to the Index page and find the topics you like and get the information you need from the page you choose.
OK, let me answer your question.
When we talk, we often drop い after て in colloquial Japanese. Or the listener can’t hear the sound of い.
食べています→ 食べてます
食べている→ 食べてる
聞こえていました→ 聞こえてました
聞こえている → 聞こえてる
見ていた → 見てた
住んでいる→住んでる
This is called い抜き言葉(=inuki kotoba) and it is considered to be incorrect grammatically and I bet your Japanese teachers hate it especially when you write without い.
So if you are studying Japanese in a class or you are going to take an exam, do write い.
But it is very important to know how we actually talk in conversation dropping い.
So the removal of the ‘i’ does not change the intended meaning? ‘見てた’ simply means ‘見ていた’ and is NOT just a colloquial ‘見た’, right? Because sometimes I can’t tell the difference when they are used in context. Japanese is spoken very quickly and I get very confused as to when the V+~ている form is used (like in instances of 結婚している and 知っている meaning ‘married’ and ‘know’ and not ‘is getting married’ and ‘knowing’ respectively). Thank you for the explanation and the tip about 抜き言葉 ：）
@Blossom
So the removal of the ‘i’ does not change the intended meaning? ‘見てた’ simply means ‘見ていた’ and is NOT just a colloquial ‘見た’, right?
→Right. 見ていた →見てた
見た (simple past) and 見て(い)た are different.
~ている means “to be ~ ing” (describing what is happening) but you are right. It also used to describe some state of the current condition.
Thank you for the lesson its so good to have you back! The lesson was fun, the only part I did not understand was the みたら. I never understand the たら section ><
@John
Hi John! We are glad to be back here,too!
~たら is conditional.
1) Making an suggestion
~みたら？・〜みたらどうですか？
Do you want to try doing something? / Why don’t you try doing something?/ You should ~
Ex. 行ってみたら？
Ex. 食べてみたらどうですか？
Ex. この映画観てみたらどう？
2) When you report how it goes when you try doing something
Ex. 行ってみたらいい所だった = (I gave it a try and ) I went there and (found out) it was a nice place.
Ex. やってみたら簡単だった = I tried doing that and (found out) it was easy
Ex. 食べてみたら苦かった = (I gave it a try and ) I ate it and (found out) it was bitter.
If you want to learn more about たら、go check this lesson.
~たら
Ex.
スゲエ！本当にありがとうございます！絶対に読みます！
@John
は〜い、読んでね〜❤
お帰りなさい、マギー先生！とても良いレッスンでした（＾＾）
ちょっと質問があるんですが、「試す」と「試みる」も”Try”っていう意味ですね。「てみる」とどう違いますか？あとは使い方を教えていただきませんか？よく聞きますし。
よろしくお願いします（＾＾）
@Lava
ただいま、Lava! またこのサイトに来てくれてありがとう！
そうですね、英語の訳をみると「〜てみる」も「試す」、「試みる」もto try で違いがわかりにくいですね。
ではここからは他の人のために英語で説明しますね。
1) We use 〜てみる casually in daily conversation with many verbs but we use 試す when we emphasize the actions of testing something.
2) As we saw in the lesson, ～てみる is used with other verbs but 試す can’t be combined with other verbs.
object (noun) を試す
verb かどうか試す, etc.
3) 試す means “to try/ to test / to experiment / to check it out”
〜てみる means “to try doing something to see what happens / how it goes”
But actually you can combine these two.
↓
“試してみる”
試してみる means “to give it a try to see what happens / how it goes”
Let’s compare the following sentences.
Ex. 1) 新しい薬を試す。 = to test a new medicine
Ex. 2) 新しい薬が効くかどうか試す = to test a new medicine to see if it works.”
Ex. 3) 新しい薬が効くかどうか試してみる = to try using a new medicine to see how it works.”
****
試みる to make an attempt / take a shot
Now 試みる is used for something more challenging or formal.
救出を試みる = to attempt rescue someone
犯人の説得を試みる= to attempt to persuade the criminal
どうでしょうか？
詳しく説明してくれてありがとうございます！
わかるようになりました（＾＾）
こんばんは、おはよう、マギー先生！また私です（＾ω＾)
～テミルについてのレッスンをどうもありがとうございました！相変わらずとてもお勉強になりましたね♥
このレッスンに関して、加えたいことが四つあります。
一. People often confuse～てみる with ～（よ）うする, so I think a good idea would be to write something about it.
二.～てみる is also sometimes used as an euphemism （間接・椀曲表現）to avoid being too direct. It makes the sentence more polite.
三. There is also a construction such as ～てみろ EX) もういっぺん言ってみろ and it feels like “come on, try to say that again (and you will see what happens)”.
四. There are also some expressions like 言ってみれば (in a matter of speaking)、今となってみれば (looking back today)、考えてみれば (come to think about it) which are a bit different translated than this ～てみる. It’s useful to know their meaning.
ヨロシク！
@天人
おはよう！！そしてとっても役に立つ補足、ありがとう！！ :)
Thank you for the lesson, learned a lot.
@Vishal
よかった〜！
Happy to hear that. :)
Hi Maggie senses
I have a question that I want to ask you. I had read a manga and I found a sentence that I don’t understand. Based on you lesson , does this sentence “ 今度改めてお礼に来てみたら? “ means “ Why don’t we try give him our thanks again the next time we come here ?”
Hi Khan
Right.
Why don’t you (give it a try and) come visit him/her to say thank you (properly) again.
Thank you for relying my answer, Maggie sensei.
I am sorry to bother you but do know the function of the particle に in this sentence?
お礼に来る
食べに行く
買い物に出かける
This に indicates one’s purpose. “in order to do something/to do something” “for ~ ” “
Welcome back, and thank you so much for the new lesson!!! <3
@Andrea
ただいま〜！！And thank YOU for coming back this site,too!