密歇根新闻广播 Try and是对还是错

Your challenge this week is to try and avoid using the construction "try and."

Why, you ask? Because we get a lot of questions from listeners about this particular construction and whether it's wrong.

We can try not to use it, but "try and" is very idiomatic¹. Also, there isn't really a good reason to avoid it.

The "try and" construction is not an isolated² phenomenon. We have other constructions that contain an infinitive³, then "and," then another infinitive. For example, "I'm going to go and see who's at the door." Or, "I'm going to come and visit tomorrow."

"Try and" shows up in English as early as the 1600s. Some research suggests that it's actually older than "try to," which is the construction critics generally say should be used in place of "try and."

It may be true that "try to" sounds more formal, but that doesn't mean "try and" is wrong. There's nothing wrong with it grammatically⁵, and it has a nice long history. Merriam-Webster has examples of George Eliot, Ernest Hemingway, the New York Times all using it. Even E.B. White, of Strunk and White fame has used it.

The "try and" construction also follows its own grammatical⁴ patterns in terms of how it can be used. For example, it only works with the form "try." If you want to use the past tense or "ing" form of try, you have to switch to "to," as in "I'm trying to get to New York this summer," or "I tried to get to New York this summer."

Another intuitive rule for this construction is that you can't put an adverb in the middle. For example, "Don't try and fool me" sounds fine. If you try to split⁶ the construction with an adverb as in, "Don't try ever and fool me", it doesn't work.

"Try and" can also be used in order to avoid using "to" too many times. For instance, instead of, "We are going to try to get a cheap flight," you can say, "We are going to try and get a cheap flight.

There have been some studies on semantic differences between "try and" and "try to" in terms of whether one implies a greater chance of success. If you say, 'I'm going to try and get this done," vs. "I'm going to try to get this done," does one suggest more confidence that you're actually going to get it done?

So far, studies are inconclusive. That is, we can't figure out whether there's a meaningful distinction, aside from one construction sounding more formal than the other. What do you think?

1 idiomatic   

adj.成语的，符合语言习惯的

参考例句：

• In our reading we should always be alert for idiomatic expressions.我们在阅读过程中应经常注意惯用法。
• In his lecture,he bore down on the importance of idiomatic usage in a language.他在演讲中着重强调了语言中习惯用法的重要性。

2 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

3 infinitive   

n.不定词；adj.不定词的

参考例句：

• The use of the split infinitive is now generally acceptable.分裂不定式的用法现在已被广泛接受。
• Modal verbs generally take the bare infinitive.情态动词通常用不带to的不定式。

4 grammatical   

adj.语法的，符合语法规则的

参考例句：

• His composition is excellent except for some grammatical mistakes.他的作文写得很好，只有几处语法错误。
• He can barely form a grammatical sentence.他几乎造不出合乎语法的句子。

5 grammatically   

adv.符合语法规则地

参考例句：

• This essay is grammatically smooth and readable. 这篇作文写得还顺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Grammatically, the Sanskrit paradigm exemplifies the concept of radical. 从语法的观点看，梵语的变格范例明确了词根的概念。 来自辞典例句

6 split   

n.劈开，裂片，裂口；adj.分散的；v.分离，分开，劈开

参考例句：

• Who told you that Mary and I had split up?谁告诉你玛丽和我已经离婚了？
• The teacher split the class up into six groups.老师把班级分成6个小组。