Trying stuff with てみる

The てみる auxiliary originates from the verb 見る, and can provide some insight on how to remember what it means. It roughly means "try to do something (and see how it goes)". However, when it is used with this meaning, it should never be written in kanji.

てみる indicates that the action is "tried" or being done with the intent to see what the outcome of doing so will be.

食べてみる
I'll try to eat it (and see how it goes/see if I like it/see if it’s poisoned, etc)

チョコレートケーキを作ってみました
I tried to make chocolate cake.

想像してみてください。
Please try to imagine it.

In the previous lesson, we saw another grammar point that can be translated as "to try to do": ようとする.

In Japanese, these two grammar points are very different, but when translated into English they are often a source of confusion. てみる assumes that the action is going to be done and that what matters is the outcome, while ようとする implies that the hard part (the “attempt”) is the action itself. It is often used with the assumption that the subject will not be able to “do” the action in the first place.

Consider the difference between these two sentences:

まずは一度逃げてみよう
First, let’s try escaping once.

僕は、逃げようとする彼女の手を取った。
I caught the hand of the girl who was attempting to escape.

The first sentence focuses on the fact that the speaker doesn’t know how their escape attempt will go, but they want to try and see. The second sentence stops the girl from escaping before she even begins to do so. It implies that she attempted to initiate the act of “escaping” but she was unable to follow through with it.