てみる (Try Doing) in Japanese

In Brief

Use the て-form + みる when someone performs an action as a trial, experiment, or new experience: 食べてみる means “try eating it and see.” The pattern focuses on discovering the result, so it is different from merely attempting something difficult. Conjugate みる, not the verb before it: 食べてみた, 食べてみたい, 食べてみてください.

Overview

Japanese てみる presents an action as something to test or experience. You eat an unfamiliar dish to discover its taste, use a new method to see whether it works, or speak Japanese to find out how the conversation goes. English often uses “try,” but the image behind the Japanese pattern is especially clear: do something and see the result.

The final みる comes from 見る, “to see.” Here it functions as an auxiliary verb (a helper verb attached to another verb to add a grammatical meaning). It normally appears in kana as みる, which helps show that “seeing” is not a separate physical action. Compare 写真を見てみる: the first 見て means “look at,” while the final みる means “try.” The whole phrase is “try looking at the photograph.”

This concept is introduced here at B2 because using it naturally involves more than knowing the formula. You need to choose between trying an experience, making an attempt, testing an object, and giving advice. The form itself, however, is regular once you know the Japanese て-form.

How It Works

The basic pattern

The structure is:

verb in て-form + みる

The first verb names the action being tested. みる carries tense, politeness, negation, and other endings.

Dictionary form	て-form	With てみる	Meaning
食べる	食べて	食べてみる	try eating
話す	話して	話してみる	try speaking
読む	読んで	読んでみる	try reading
書く	書いて	書いてみる	try writing
行く	行って	行ってみる	try going
する	して	してみる	try doing
来る	来て	来てみる	try coming

The usual sound changes of the て-form still apply. For example, 行く becomes 行って, not 行いて, so “try going” is 行ってみる.

Conjugating the pattern

みる conjugates like an ichidan verb (a verb whose final る is removed before most endings). The verb before it stays in the て-form.

Function	Plain	Polite	Typical meaning
Non-past	食べてみる	食べてみます	try / will try eating
Past	食べてみた	食べてみました	tried eating
Negative	食べてみない	食べてみません	do not / will not try eating
Past negative	食べてみなかった	食べてみませんでした	did not try eating
Desire	食べてみたい	食べてみたいです	want to try eating
Invitation	食べてみよう	食べてみましょう	let’s try eating
Request	食べてみて	食べてみてください	try eating it

A common English-based mistake is to change the first verb for tense: “tried eating” is 食べてみた, not 食べたみる. Think of 食べてみる as one unit whose final verb changes.

Questions, permission, and suggestions

Several useful expressions build directly on the pattern:

• やってみる？ — “Want to give it a try?” The rising question makes this a casual invitation.
• 着てみてもいいですか。 — “May I try it on?” The permission pattern てもいい follows 着てみる.
• 別の方法を試してみたらどうですか。 — “How about trying another method?” たらどう gives advice.
• 先生に聞いてみれば？ — “Why not try asking the teacher?” This is casual and can sound direct.
• 一度見てみてください。 — “Please take a look.” Depending on context, this can be a recommendation rather than a literal command.

Examples in Context

Japanese	English	Note
このケーキ、少し食べてみてください。	Please try a little of this cake.	Invites a new experience
次は日本語で話してみます。	Next time, I’ll try speaking in Japanese.	Decision about a future trial
京都にはまだ行ったことがないので、一度行ってみたいです。	I have never been to Kyoto, so I’d like to go there once.	Desire for a new experience
このジャケットを着てみてもいいですか。	May I try this jacket on?	Asking permission in a shop
アプリを再起動してみたら、問題が直りました。	I tried restarting the app, and the problem was fixed.	Trial followed by its result
分からなければ、先生に聞いてみて。	If you don’t understand, try asking the teacher.	Casual advice
今日は違う道を歩いてみよう。	Let’s try walking a different route today.	Volitional invitation
もっとゆっくり説明してみます。	I’ll try explaining it more slowly.	Testing a different approach
この漢字を辞書で調べてみましたか。	Did you try looking up this kanji in a dictionary?	Question about a possible solution
納豆を食べてみたけど、まだ好きにはなれない。	I tried natto, but I still can’t bring myself to like it.	The action happened; the result was negative
そのボタンを押してみないでください。	Please do not try pressing that button.	Negative request; the trial itself is discouraged
実際に使ってみると、思ったより簡単でした。	When I actually tried using it, it was easier than I expected.	Discovery after direct experience
まず自分で考えてみて、それから答えを見てください。	First try thinking about it yourself, then look at the answer.	てみて links to the next action

Notice that てみる does not promise success. In 説明してみます, the speaker will test a way of explaining; whether the listener understands remains open. In the past affirmative, however, it normally tells us that the trial action itself took place: 食べてみた means the person did eat some.

Common Mistakes

Using the dictionary form before みる

• Wrong: 食べるみます。
• Right: 食べてみます。
• Why: The first verb must be in the て-form. Politeness is marked on the final みる, producing みます.

Putting tense on the first verb

• Wrong: 日本語で話したみた。
• Right: 日本語で話してみた。
• Why: Keep 話す in its て-form, 話して, and make the final verb past: みた.

Confusing a trial with an unsuccessful attempt

• Unnatural for the intended meaning: ドアを開けてみたが、開かなかった。 (“I tried opening the door, but it did not open.”)
• Better: ドアを開けようとしたが、開かなかった。
• Why: 開けてみた normally suggests that the action “open it as a test” was carried out. 開けようとした means “attempted to open it” and allows the attempt to fail before the door opened. Context can blur this distinction, but ようとする is the safer choice when the action itself was not completed.

Writing the auxiliary as 見る without a reason

• Less clear: 食べて見る
• Standard: 食べてみる
• Why: In this grammatical use, kana is conventional and clearly marks みる as a helper. 見てみる is correct when the main verb itself is 見る: “try looking.”

Translating every English “try” as てみる

• Intended: “I tried hard to finish by five.”
• Not the best match: 五時までに終わってみた。
• Better: 五時までに終わらせようと頑張った。
• Why: English “try” can emphasize effort. てみる emphasizes performing an action to learn its result. Expressions such as ようとする, 頑張る, or 努力する may fit effort better.

Making advice too direct

• Direct: これを使ってみて。
• Softer: これを使ってみたらどうですか。
• Why: Bare てみて is natural among friends, but it can sound like an instruction. With someone you do not know well, a question or 〜てみてはいかがですか leaves more room to decline.

Usage Notes

New experiences and practical experiments

The pattern is especially common with food, clothes, travel, language use, and troubleshooting. These situations naturally have an unknown outcome: How does it taste? Does it fit? Will the method work? This is why 食べてみる, 着てみる, and やってみる occur so often.

English “try” may sound as though an action is difficult. Japanese てみる does not require difficulty. この曲を聞いてみて can simply mean “Give this song a listen.” The speaker is inviting the listener to experience it and form an opinion.

Politeness and register

てみる itself is neutral in register. Politeness comes from its ending and from the larger sentence:

• やってみる。 — plain statement: “I’ll try it.”
• やってみます。 — polite statement.
• やってみて。 — casual request or encouragement.
• やってみてください。 — polite request, though still fairly direct.
• やってみてはいかがでしょうか。 — formal, restrained suggestion.

In casual speech, てみる often contracts to てみる exactly as written; unlike some other て-form patterns, there is no standard contraction such as てみ. Speakers may, however, say the phrase quickly and reduce sounds in ordinary conversation.

Subjects and other particles

The person trying the action is usually understood from context, as Japanese often omits the subject. Objects and destinations keep the particles required by the first verb:

• 納豆を食べてみる — try eating natto
• 日本語で話してみる — try speaking in Japanese
• 北海道に行ってみる — try going to Hokkaido
• 友達に聞いてみる — try asking a friend

The particle belongs to the action verb, not to みる.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

てみる, ようとする, and 試す

These expressions overlap in English but organize the situation differently.

Expression	Main focus	Example	Natural interpretation
てみる	doing an action to discover the result	新しい店で食べてみた。	I tried eating at the new restaurant.
ようとする	initiating or making an attempt; it may fail	ドアを開けようとした。	I tried to open the door.
試す	testing a thing, method, ability, or possibility	新しい方法を試した。	I tested a new method.
試してみる	testing something as an experimental action	新しい方法を試してみた。	I gave the new method a try.

試す is a full transitive verb (a verb that acts on an object marked by を): 方法を試す, “test a method.” てみる is a productive pattern that can follow many actions. The combination 試してみる is not redundant in natural Japanese; it means “try testing it” or, more idiomatically, “give it a try.”

てみると and discoveries

When と follows the pattern, it can introduce what was discovered after trying the action:

窓を開けてみると、外は雪でした。
“When I tried opening the window, I found that it was snowing outside.”

Here と marks a reliable sequence or discovery: once the first event happened, the second situation became apparent. In narratives, てみたら can serve a similar role and often sounds more conversational:

店に電話してみたら、まだ席がありました。
“I tried calling the restaurant, and it turned out they still had seats.”

Negative questions as invitations

〜てみない？ is grammatically negative but often functions as a friendly invitation: 一緒に作ってみない？ means “Would you like to try making it together?” It is softer than 作ってみて, because it asks whether the listener is interested rather than instructing them.

Do not confuse that invitation with a genuine negative statement. 私は食べてみない means “I won’t try eating it,” though in many contexts 食べてみるつもりはない (“I have no intention of trying it”) is clearer.

Literal 見る versus auxiliary みる

Kanji and context can reveal two separate actions:

• 映画を見てみる。 — “I’ll try watching the film.” (見て is “watch”; みる marks the trial.)
• 映画を見て、感想を見る。 — “Watch the film, then look at the comments.” (Both are independent actions.)

Writing the auxiliary in kana is useful, but punctuation, particles, and meaning still determine the structure. Japanese does not insert an English-style word between the two parts.

Practice Tips

1. Build the pattern from real choices. Each day, name three small experiments: 新しい料理を食べてみる, 日本語で日記を書いてみる, or 早く寝てみる. Then change each one into past, polite, and desire forms.
2. Predict the outcome, then report it. Say この方法を使ってみます, perform the action, and later report 使ってみたら、便利でした. This connects the grammar to its core “do and see” meaning.
3. Sort examples by intention. When you hear English “try,” ask whether it means experience (てみる), incomplete attempt (ようとする), or effort (頑張る／努力する). This prevents one-to-one translation habits.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: て-Form — provides the verb form required before みる.