〜てみます
Do it and see what happens
You do the thing, and you find out how it turns out.
たべてみます
This is NOT “try hard to do it”. No effort implied — just curiosity.
のんでみます
みます is an ordinary Group 2 verb, so it takes 〜たい and 〜て too.
いってみたいです
この みせで たべてみますか。
はい、たべて みましょう！
〜てみます
Everything in Phase O bolts onto the てけい, so if the て-form is solid, this whole phase is easy. First up: 〜てみます — do something just to see how it goes. 🔊 Tap to hear.
Rusty on the て-form? → Unit 9 has the full drill →
て-form ＋ みます — do it and see what happens. Be careful with the English: this is NOT “try hard to do it”. It's the low-stakes “give it a go” — you do the thing, and you find out how it turns out. Once attached, みます behaves like the ordinary Group 2 verb it looks like, so you also get てみたい (want to give it a go) and てみて ください (go on, try it).
English “try” hides two different ideas. “I tried the sushi” (= I ate it to see) is たべてみました. “I tried to eat it (but couldn't)” is a different grammar altogether — not this one. てみる never means you struggled.
クイズ
Six questions — build 〜てみます and its friends 〜てみたい and 〜てみて.
Question 1 / 6 · 0 correct