N4#grammar#verbs#te-form#experience

N4 Integrated Dialogue Lesson 2

This lesson covers the usage of the ～てみる (te-miru) structure, which is used to express trying something out or testing an experience.

Context

Trying New Things

Have you ever been to a restaurant and decided to try a new dish, or perhaps you bought a new type of tea just to see how it tastes? In Japanese, when we want to describe the act of 'trying' an action to see what happens or how it feels, we use a specific auxiliary verb structure.

Imagine you are at a cafe with a friend. You see a strange-looking cake on the menu. You aren't sure if you will like it, but you decide to order it anyway to find out. You tell your friend, 'I will try eating this cake.'

Explanation

The ～てみる Structure

The pattern ～てみる is used to indicate that you are performing an action as a trial or experiment.

Verb-te formみる

To form this, take the te-form of any verb and add みる (miru). The verb みる literally means 'to see,' but here it acts as an auxiliary verb meaning 'to try doing.' It is conjugated like a standard group 2 verb (e.g., みます, みた, みない).

Tip

Remember that the te-form conjugation rules apply. For example, 食べる becomes 食べてみる, and 行く becomes 行ってみる.

Examples

Examples in Context

Here are some common ways to use this structure in daily life.

このケーキ(けーき)を食べて(たべて)みます。

I will try eating this cake.

このこのthisケーキけーきcakeををobject marker食べてたべてeat (te-form)みますみますtry

日本(にほん)へ行って(いって)みました。

I tried going to Japan.

日本にほんJapanへへto行っていってgo (te-form)みましたみましたtried

新しい(あたらしい)服(ふく)を着て(きて)みた。

I tried on the new clothes.

新しいあたらしいnew服ふくclothesををobject marker着てきてwear (te-form)みたみたtried

この本を読んで【みます】。

Hint: Polite form of 'to try'

I will try reading this book.

Usage

Nuance and Register

The ～てみる structure is very common in casual conversation. It emphasizes the 'trial' aspect of the action.

Simple vs. Trial

食べます

I eat / I will eat (statement of fact)

ケーキを食べます。

食べてみます

I will try eating (focus on testing experience)

ケーキを食べてみます。

Which sentence sounds more like you are testing out a new experience?

日本語を話します。
✓ 日本語を話してみます。

話してみます includes the 'try' aspect, indicating you are testing your ability to speak.

Deep dive

Deep Dive: Past Tense

You can use ～てみる in the past tense to describe a completed experience.

When you say ～てみました (te-mimashita), you are confirming that you performed the action and now have the result or the experience of that action. It is often used to report back to someone about a suggestion they made.

Summary

Lesson Summary

In this lesson, we learned that adding みる to the te-form of a verb creates the meaning of 'trying' to do something. This is a vital tool for describing new experiences and testing things out.

食べる

たべるverb

to eat

行く

いくverb

to go

着る

きるverb

to wear

読む

よむverb

to read

新しい

あたらしいadjective

new