<ol>
<li><p>If the attempt has the strong meaning of &quot;trying to do&quot;(not sure if can do it or not, e.g. 试图违规的运动员都被裁判发现了), you can use 试图。If the attempt in the English sentence has the similar expression of &quot;going to do&quot; (not strong trying), you can just omit this word in Chinese sentence. As your examples, you can just say: 我正在学习中文 and 我开了个玩笑，不过没受欢迎。</p>
</li>
<li><p>试图 more appears in the writing Chinese. In the speaking Chinese, people may use &quot;试着，尝试，or 试 etc.&quot; instead. Despite this, 试图 is not rare in speaking Chinese.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>3.In my opinion, I don't agree with your iTalki teacher. Perhaps he/she him/herself rarely used &quot;试图&quot;, 试图 is not a weird word. In your first &amp; second sentence, you can omit 试图 and I think your using of 试图 in sentence 3-5 are all correct.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-02-06T04:35:28.227Z
2023-02-06T04:35:28.227Z
Havier
<p>Attempt - 尝试(着) - give something a try; 企图 - want/tempt/offer to try; 试图 - willingly try.</p>
<p><strong>尝试(着); 企图</strong></p>
<p>= 我正在<strong>尝试着</strong>学习中文。</p>
<ul>
<li>我<strong>企图</strong>学习中文。</li>
</ul>
<p>= 我在<strong>尝试着</strong>解决經济不佳的情况。</p>
<ul>
<li>我<strong>企图</strong>解决經济不佳的情况。</li>
</ul>
<p>= 她在<strong>尝试着</strong>说服我自己是无辜的。</p>
<ul>
<li>她<strong>企图</strong>说服我自己是无辜的。</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>试图; 企图</strong></p>
<p>= 我<strong>试图</strong>讓他开心，不过没成功。</p>
<ul>
<li>我<strong>企图</strong>讓他开心. 但失敗了.</li>
</ul>
<p>= 他连<strong>试图</strong>解释自己的立場也不肯。</p>
<ul>
<li>他<strong>企图</strong>解释自己的立場.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-02-06T05:04:45.993Z
2023-02-06T05:04:45.993Z
r13
<p>In English, we often use the word &quot;attempt&quot;.  Here's 5 random example sentences (off the top of my head):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I'm attempting to learn Chinese.<br />
I attempted to make a joke, but it didn't go well.<br />
I'm attempting to resolve the situation.<br />
He didn't even attempt to explain himself.<br />
She's attempting to convince me that's she's innocent.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?wdqb=attempt" rel="nofollow noreferrer">&quot;Attempt&quot;</a> is typically translated to <a href="https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?wdqb=%E8%AF%95%E5%9B%BE" rel="nofollow noreferrer">试图</a> in dictionaries (there's also <a href="https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?wdqb=%E4%BC%81%E5%9B%BE" rel="nofollow noreferrer">企图</a> but it has negative connotations), so I might say something like this in Chinese:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>我正在<strong>试图</strong>学习中文。<br />
我<strong>试图</strong>开个玩笑，不过没受欢迎。<br />
我在<strong>试图</strong>解决不佳的情况。<br />
他连<strong>试图</strong>解释自己也没有。<br />
她在<strong>试图</strong>说服我自己是无辜的。</p>
</blockquote>
<p>One of my iTalki teachers pointed out that he almost never uses the word 试图 (and how I use it all the time), so I'm guessing all of my sentences above are unnatural (or maybe even plain wrong).  So now I'm at a loss for how I should go about constructing Chinese sentences for which I would naturally use the verb &quot;attempt&quot; in English.</p>
<p><strong>Question</strong>: How can we construct natural Chinese sentences when their English counterpart contains the verb &quot;attempt&quot;?</p>
<p>To be clear, I'm looking for general guidelines on word choice and grammar which I can use when constructing Chinese sentences where I would use the verb &quot;attempt&quot; in English, not merely &quot;here's better translations to the five above sentences&quot;.</p>

<grammar><word-choice>
How can we construct natural Chinese sentences when their English counterpart contains the verb "attempt"?
# How can we construct natural Chinese sentences when their English counterpart contains the verb "attempt"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-02-06)

In English, we often use the word "attempt". Here's 5 random example sentences (off the top of my head):

> I'm attempting to learn Chinese.  
> I attempted to make a joke, but it didn't go well.  
> I'm attempting to resolve the situation.  
> He didn't even attempt to explain himself.  
> She's attempting to convince me that's she's innocent.

["Attempt"](https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?wdqb=attempt) is typically translated to [试图](https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?wdqb=%E8%AF%95%E5%9B%BE) in dictionaries (there's also [企图](https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?wdqb=%E4%BC%81%E5%9B%BE) but it has negative connotations), so I might say something like this in Chinese:

> 我正在**试图**学习中文。  
> 我**试图**开个玩笑，不过没受欢迎。  
> 我在**试图**解决不佳的情况。  
> 他连**试图**解释自己也没有。  
> 她在**试图**说服我自己是无辜的。

One of my iTalki teachers pointed out that he almost never uses the word 试图 (and how I use it all the time), so I'm guessing all of my sentences above are unnatural (or maybe even plain wrong). So now I'm at a loss for how I should go about constructing Chinese sentences for which I would naturally use the verb "attempt" in English.

**Question**: How can we construct natural Chinese sentences when their English counterpart contains the verb "attempt"?

To be clear, I'm looking for general guidelines on word choice and grammar which I can use when constructing Chinese sentences where I would use the verb "attempt" in English, not merely "here's better translations to the five above sentences".

**Tags:** grammar, word-choice


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2023-02-06. Score: 3

1. If the attempt has the strong meaning of "trying to do"(not sure if can do it or not, e.g. 试图违规的运动员都被裁判发现了), you can use 试图。If the attempt in the English sentence has the similar expression of "going to do" (not strong trying), you can just omit this word in Chinese sentence. As your examples, you can just say: 我正在学习中文 and 我开了个玩笑，不过没受欢迎。
2. 试图 more appears in the writing Chinese. In the speaking Chinese, people may use "试着，尝试，or 试 etc." instead. Despite this, 试图 is not rare in speaking Chinese.

3.In my opinion, I don't agree with your iTalki teacher. Perhaps he/she him/herself rarely used "试图", 试图 is not a weird word. In your first & second sentence, you can omit 试图 and I think your using of 试图 in sentence 3-5 are all correct.


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2023-02-06. Score: 0

Attempt - 尝试(着) - give something a try; 企图 - want/tempt/offer to try; 试图 - willingly try.

**尝试(着); 企图**

= 我正在**尝试着**学习中文。

* 我**企图**学习中文。

= 我在**尝试着**解决經济不佳的情况。

* 我**企图**解决經济不佳的情况。

= 她在**尝试着**说服我自己是无辜的。

* 她**企图**说服我自己是无辜的。

**试图; 企图**

= 我**试图**讓他开心，不过没成功。

* 我**企图**讓他开心. 但失敗了.

= 他连**试图**解释自己的立場也不肯。

* 他**企图**解释自己的立場.


---

