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Some supermarkets have promised to try and reduce plastic wastage.

In Turkish, this is an incorrect use of language. In addition to the primary meaning, it would also mean that the supermarkets have promised to try plastic wastage, which doesn't make any sense in this context. We call this 'anlatım bozukluğu' in general. However, I wonder if the sentence on top is completely correct regarding the English grammar rules (and maybe the guidelines). I don't think so as I see the sentence definitely like this:

  1. Some supermarkets have promised to try plastic wastage
  2. Some supermarkets have promised to reduce plastic wastage

Full text is on British Council website

  • I don't understand why it's voted to close as I don't see any reasons. Anyway, this helped too: https://www.scribbr.com/language-rules/misplaced-modifier/ –  Aug 14 '22 at 22:41
  • @MarcInManhattan obviously it doesn't. –  Aug 18 '22 at 20:40
  • Why not? It asks about the exact same issue that you're asking about. – MarcInManhattan Aug 19 '22 at 00:54
  • @MarcInManhattan The question is about a more general issue, asked by using sentences that contains the verb 'try'. The question can be applied on other sentences with other verbs. It's a coincidence that both questions contains the verb 'take' in different structures. That's why I commented the scribbr page. Again, it's not a duplicate. –  Aug 19 '22 at 10:12
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    "try to reduce" attempt to reduce "try and reduce" attempt and (then) reduce is considered by many to be incorrect but in speech it's heard daily and said by all sorts of speakers at all levels. Your question is in fact about "try and (v)" and "try + to (v)", it is not connected to misplaced modifiers as the word order in the original sentence is correct. – Mari-Lou A Aug 31 '22 at 22:32

2 Answers2

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“To try and verb” is an idiom common in U.S. speech and informal writing that means “to try to verb.” Skilled writers avoid the “try and” usage because, as you point out, it often makes no literal sense. What was intended was

to try to reduce plastic waste

By the way, where did you find the quoted sentence? I did not see it in the article you cited.

Jeff Morrow
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    It's common in the UK too. – Kate Bunting Aug 13 '22 at 18:38
  • Thank you Jeff, please check the 'task 2' –  Aug 13 '22 at 18:48
  • @orhantorun Ahh I see. Well, as has been pointed out, it is an idiom. I'd not use it in formal writing myself, but I do not think the point of the exercise was to do more than challenge you to fill in the blanks according to the sense of the original article. It is a challenge for native speakers to perceive when an idiom's meaning can be misconstrued. In the context of this exercise, it would have been better to use "to" rather than "and" because the purpose was not to teach an idiom. – Jeff Morrow Aug 13 '22 at 21:16
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The sentence as written is correct grammar. The particular phrase "try and reduce" is an idiom and so no general rule can be inferred from the correctness of this sentence.

In other contexts, your analysis could be correct.

James K
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