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according to a grammar site

Try + -ing means that you are trying something as an experiment, especially as a possible solution to a problem, to see if it works or not.

And

Try + to + infinitive means that something is difficult but you are making an effort to do it.

But in some posts like a StackExchange post

I can't find mention of a degree of effort. In Korea, I've been taught to strictly distinguish two of them(by what "a grammar site" says), so it's confusing to me that they don't talk about a degree of effort.

MarcInManhattan
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doraemon1
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  • You've written the same definition twice, where presumably you intended to show us *two different definitions* (one for *try doing, and one for try to do*). Please edit the post to correct this. – FumbleFingers Feb 13 '23 at 11:27
  • @FumbleFingers umm no, I intended to show you two different version of posts which compares try doing and try to do – doraemon1 Feb 13 '23 at 11:49
  • Check your question text again. You've written exactly the same text in the two consecutive sentences starting with Try + -ing means that... – FumbleFingers Feb 13 '23 at 11:56
  • @FumbleFingers I edited the question – doraemon1 Feb 13 '23 at 11:59
  • @FumbleFingers sorry, no – doraemon1 Feb 13 '23 at 12:00
  • The difference between He had a headache, so (1) he tried taking* aspirin* and ...so (2) he tried to take* aspirin* is nothing to do with "degree of effort". It's to do with "success" - in (1), he successfully took aspirin (which may or may not have cured the headache), but in (2) there's a strong implication that he wasn't even able to take aspirin. – FumbleFingers Feb 13 '23 at 12:03
  • Read the linked question again (more carefully than you read your own question! :) I'm sure StoneyB's answer does fully address your question. – FumbleFingers Feb 13 '23 at 12:06
  • @FumbleFingers Thank you. So you think the explanation of "a grammer site" is incorrect right? – doraemon1 Feb 13 '23 at 12:11
  • I haven't followed your links, but this is such a well-known usage distinction I think you've probably misunderstood something. The point is you're obviously asking about the difference between *try to do* and *try doing*, the same as hundreds of previous visitors to this site. And that difference is fully covered by an existing question and answer. – FumbleFingers Feb 13 '23 at 12:16
  • It's not clear what you want. You're talking about two forms of the same verb, but asking about meaning. They have the same meaning but the tense is different. – Astralbee Feb 13 '23 at 12:47
  • @Astralbee: No, they don't have the same meaning. As per OP's British Council link, *try doing it* means to do it in order to see if that fixes some problem, but *try to do it* means to make an effort to do it (there isn't necessarily even any "problem" that needs to be fixed). – FumbleFingers Feb 13 '23 at 12:57
  • ...and try and* do it* leads to the potential ambiguity of Suspect: "Try and convict me." Prosecutor: "Have it your way. We'll try and convict you." – FumbleFingers Feb 13 '23 at 13:01
  • @FumbleFingers The question has been edited almost 7 hours after my comment, which I stand by. – Astralbee Feb 14 '23 at 11:40
  • @Astralbee: OP's first change (made before your comment) was to correct the fact that he'd repeated the same definition. The only change made since your comment was to change the tag from grammar to infinitive-vs-gerund, so you can't really imply your comment was "valid at the time". – FumbleFingers Feb 14 '23 at 12:10

1 Answers1

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Examples:

[1] You should try to eat less.

[2] You should try eating less.

Here, the infinitival and gerund-participial forms of "try" have a difference of meaning.

In [1] "try" means "endeavour"; in [2] "try" means "test the effectiveness of".

BillJ
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