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Te-form Patterns

〜てみる (Try doing)

Master 〜てみる (te-miru) to express trying something or attempting an action. Learn how to suggest and try new things in Japanese.

What is 〜てみる (te-miru)?

〜てみる means "to try doing something" or "to do something and see." It expresses attempting an action to test or experience it, often with curiosity about the outcome.

[Verb te-form] + みる

食べてみる
"try eating"

やってみる
"try doing"

Formation

Basic Pattern

Verb (te-form) + みる

Plain: 〜てみる
Polite: 〜てみます

読んでみる / 読んでみます
"try reading"

使ってみる / 使ってみます
"try using"

Core Meaning

Try and See

The literal meaning combines:

  • て (te-form) - doing action
  • みる (見る) - "to see/look"
  • Together: "do and see (what happens)"
食べてみる
"try eating (to see how it tastes)"

聞いてみる
"try asking (to see what they say)"

調べてみる
"try looking it up (to see what we find)"

Common Usage Patterns

〜てみてください (please try)

これを食べてみてください
"Please try eating this"

使ってみてください
"Please try using it"

やってみてください
"Please try doing it"

考えてみてください
"Please try thinking about it"

〜てみたい (want to try)

日本に行ってみたい
"I want to try going to Japan"

寿司を食べてみたい
"I want to try eating sushi"

この本を読んでみたい
"I want to try reading this book"

〜てみよう (let's try)

Volitional form for suggesting.

やってみよう
"Let's try doing it"

食べてみよう
"Let's try eating it"

聞いてみよう
"Let's try asking"

行ってみよう
"Let's try going"

〜てみたら (if you try / when you tried)

やってみたら、簡単だった
"When I tried it, it was easy"

食べてみたら、おいしかった
"When I tried eating it, it was delicious"

聞いてみたら、知っていた
"When I asked, they knew"

Tense Forms

Present/Future: 〜てみる

これから食べてみる
"I'll try eating it from now"

明日やってみる
"I'll try doing it tomorrow"

Past: 〜てみた

昨日食べてみた
"I tried eating it yesterday"

もうやってみた
"I already tried doing it"

聞いてみたけど、知らなかった
"I tried asking, but they didn't know"

Negative: 〜てみない

食べてみない？
"Won't you try eating?"

やってみないとわからない
"You won't know unless you try"

Common Verbs with てみる

Trying Activities

やってみる - try doing
してみる - try doing
食べてみる - try eating
飲んでみる - try drinking
使ってみる - try using
読んでみる - try reading
書いてみる - try writing
見てみる - try looking/watching

Communication

聞いてみる - try asking
話してみる - try talking
言ってみる - try saying
電話してみる - try calling
メールしてみる - try emailing

Exploration

行ってみる - try going
来てみる - try coming
調べてみる - try researching
探してみる - try searching
考えてみる - try thinking

Casual Contraction

In casual speech, てみる often contracts:

食べてみる → 食べてみる (no change)
やってみる → やってみる (no change)

But in very casual speech:
食べてみる → 食べてみ
やってみる → やってみ

Examples:
やってみ！
"Try it!"

食べてみたら？
"Why don't you try eating it?"

Suggesting with てみる

〜てみたら？ (Why don't you try?)

Casual suggestion.

やってみたら？
"Why don't you try doing it?"

食べてみたら？
"Why don't you try eating it?"

聞いてみたら？
"Why don't you try asking?"

〜てみたらどう？ (How about trying?)

More explicit suggestion.

日本に行ってみたらどう？
"How about trying to go to Japan?"

新しいレストランに行ってみたらどう？
"How about trying the new restaurant?"

〜てみませんか？ (Won't you try?)

Polite invitation.

一緒に行ってみませんか？
"Won't you try going together?"

これを使ってみませんか？
"Won't you try using this?"

Common Conversations

Example 1: Trying Food

A: これ、おいしそうだね
   "This looks delicious"

B: 食べてみる？
   "Want to try it?"

A: うん、食べてみたい
   "Yeah, I want to try it"

B: どうぞ
   "Go ahead"

A: わあ、本当においしい！
   "Wow, it's really delicious!"

Example 2: Trying Something New

A: この本、面白いよ
   "This book is interesting"

B: そう？読んでみようかな
   "Really? Maybe I'll try reading it"

A: ぜひ読んでみて
   "Please do try reading it"

B: 読んでみたら、感想を教えるね
   "When I try reading it, I'll tell you what I think"

Example 3: Asking for Help

A: これ、どうやって使うの？
   "How do you use this?"

B: やってみてもいい？
   "May I try doing it?"

A: どうぞ
   "Please do"

B: こうやってみて…あ、できた！
   "Try doing it like this... Ah, I did it!"

Example 4: Past Experience

A: 日本料理を食べたことある？
   "Have you ever eaten Japanese food?"

B: うん、この前食べてみた
   "Yeah, I tried it the other day"

A: どうだった？
   "How was it?"

B: とてもおいしかった！
   "It was very delicious!"

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Confusing with ている

Wrong context: 今食べてみている ❌
Better: 今食べている ✓
"I'm eating now"

Note: てみる is for "trying," not ongoing actions

Mistake 2: Using for habitual actions

Wrong: 毎日走ってみる ❌
Right: 毎日走る ✓
"I run every day"

Note: てみる implies testing/experiencing, not routine

Mistake 3: Double conjugation

Wrong: 食べてみている ❌
Right: 食べてみる ✓ or 食べてみた ✓
"try eating" or "tried eating"

Nuances and Implications

Curiosity and Experimentation

新しいアプリを使ってみる
"try using a new app" (out of curiosity)

この方法でやってみる
"try doing it this way" (to test)

Tentative Action

聞いてみるけど、わからない
"I'll try asking, but I don't know"

やってみるけど、難しいかも
"I'll try doing it, but it might be difficult"

Politeness and Softness

Using てみる can soften requests:

考えてみてください
"Please try thinking about it" (softer)

vs.

考えてください
"Please think about it" (more direct)

With Various Contexts

First-time Experiences

初めて日本食を食べてみた
"I tried Japanese food for the first time"

スキーをしてみたい
"I want to try skiing"

Testing Solutions

この方法を試してみよう
"Let's try this method"

もう一度やってみる
"I'll try doing it one more time"

Checking Information

調べてみます
"I'll try looking it up"

確認してみる
"I'll try checking"

Politeness Levels

Casual

やってみる
"I'll try it"

食べてみたい
"I want to try eating it"

行ってみよう
"Let's try going"

Polite

やってみます
"I will try it"

食べてみたいです
"I want to try eating it"

行ってみましょう
"Let's try going"

Very Polite

やってみたいと思います
"I would like to try doing it"

お試しください
"Please try it" (honorific)

Special Expressions

一度〜てみる (try once)

一度食べてみてください
"Please try eating it once"

一度行ってみたい
"I want to try going once"

ちょっと〜てみる (try a bit)

ちょっとやってみる
"I'll try doing it a bit"

ちょっと考えてみます
"I'll try thinking about it a bit"

With Results and Outcomes

〜てみたら〜だった

Expressing the outcome after trying.

やってみたら、簡単だった
"When I tried it, it was easy"

食べてみたら、まずかった
"When I tried eating it, it tasted bad"

聞いてみたら、違った
"When I asked, it was different"

行ってみたら、閉まっていた
"When I went to try, it was closed"

Practice Sentences

Basic Trying

これを食べてみてください
"Please try eating this"

新しい方法でやってみる
"I'll try doing it a new way"

日本語で話してみます
"I'll try speaking in Japanese"

この本を読んでみたい
"I want to try reading this book"

Suggestions

やってみたら？
"Why don't you try it?"

聞いてみたらどう？
"How about trying to ask?"

一緒に行ってみませんか？
"Won't you try going together?"

Past Experiences

昨日やってみた
"I tried doing it yesterday"

初めて寿司を食べてみた
"I tried eating sushi for the first time"

新しいレストランに行ってみた
"I tried going to a new restaurant"

With Outcomes

やってみたら、できた
"When I tried, I could do it"

食べてみたら、おいしかった
"When I tried eating it, it was delicious"

調べてみたけど、わからなかった
"I tried looking it up, but I didn't understand"
  • Te-form Conjugation - Basic te-form
  • 〜たい (tai) - Want to do
  • 〜てください - Request patterns
  • 〜たら (tara) - Conditional "when/if"
  • Volitional Form - Let's expressions
  • 〜たことがある - Have experienced