# I’ll try to read this kanji



## Pacerier

hey thanks a lot for the clarification.

Anyway, does both of these sentences mean “I’ll try to read this kanji”:

(1) この漢字を読んでみる

(2) この漢字を読もうとする


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## nhk9

You are correct.

The second one can also mean "I am about to read..."


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## Ototsan

Pacerier said:


> hey thanks a lot for the clarification.
> 
> Anyway, does both of these sentences mean “I’ll try to read this kanji”:
> 
> (1) この漢字を読んでみる
> 
> (2) この漢字を読もうとする



I prefer (1). I can't explain why, but (2) sounds like a semantically incomplete  clause. I would accept (2) if it occurred, for example, before と 'when': この漢字を読もうとすると　'When trying to read this kanji, ...'.


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## Pacerier

will it be ok if i do not use plain form as such: この漢字を読もうとしました, or does it still sound odd?


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## Ototsan

Pacerier said:


> will it be ok if i do not use plain form as such: この漢字を読もうとしました, or does it still sound odd?



Perfect! I didn't notice this option.

If I may add a comment, 読んでみました implies that you actually read it, but 読もうとしました implies that you just attempted to read it, i.e. the listner doesn't know whether your attempt was successful or not.


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## Pacerier

thanks for the info, btw if you are going to say "i'll try to read this kanji", or something like that, which option will you choose:
(1) 読もうとします
(2) 読んでみます
(3) others..


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## rukiak

Pacerier said:


> thanks for the info, btw if you are going to say "i'll try to read this kanji", or something like that, which option will you choose:
> (1) 読もうとします
> (2) 読んでみます
> (3) others..


In case you are to say the phrase to someone, (2) is appropriate.
If you say the phrase just to yourself, you should say "読もう" like "この漢字を読もう".


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## Ototsan

Pacerier said:


> thanks for the info, btw if you are going to say "i'll try to read this kanji", or something like that, which option will you choose:
> (1) 読もうとします
> (2) 読んでみます
> (3) others..



(2).

(1) is odd. After all, it's a ます-verson of 読もうとする.

(3) 読んでみるとするか
     読んでみようかな

Japanese is rich in sentence-final expressions, you know.


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## Pacerier

hey's sry i don't really understand the example 読んでみるとするか, does it mean "i will try to try read".

also, meaning-wise, what will be the difference between この漢字を読んでみる and この漢字を読もうとす?


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## Ototsan

Pacerier said:


> hey's sry i don't really understand the example 読んでみるとするか, does it mean "i will try to try read".
> 
> also, meaning-wise, what will be the difference between この漢字を読んでみる and この漢字を読もうとす?



Answer for Q1: Yes.

Answer for Q2: 
You mean この漢字を読もうとする instead of この漢字を読もうとす? Please read my earlier posting in which I stated:

> 読んでみました implies that you actually read it, but 読もうとしました implies that you just attempted to read it, i.e. the listener doesn't know whether your attempt was successful or not.

Because both 読んでみる and 読もうとする are 'infinitival' expressions, let me compare 読んでみると and 読もうとすると: 読んでみると means 'when I did read it (on trial), ...', but 読もうとすると means 'when I attempt(ed) to (start to) read it, ...'. So in the latter case, you don't tell me about the come but I usually understand that you stop(ped) short of reading it.


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## Pacerier

> So in the latter case, you don't tell me about the come but I usually understand that you stop(ped) short of reading it.


sry let me rephrase to see if i understand it correctly. does it mean that when we use 読もうとすると, it implicitly gives the listener the impression that "I actually only attempted, I didn't really read it". If this is the case, when I really did read it i should be using 読んでみると instead of 読もうとすると right?


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## Ototsan

Yes.

For example, 読もうとすると，いつも邪魔がはいる（はいった）, but 読んでみると，結構面白かった

In the first case, you can't/couldn't even start to read it, whereas in the latter, you can't possibly find it interesting without reading it.


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## Pacerier

cool, thanks for the example. anyway i was wondering what may be the difference between  読もうとすると，いつも邪魔がはいった and  読もうとすると，いつも邪魔がはいる? In past tense, does it mean <in the past i've always had difficulty reading but now im Ok> and in the present tense, does it mean this: <in the past, and even now, i've always had difficulty reading>


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