Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "try" in Russian

This Russian word is one of the top 1000 words in Russian. The complete list of most common Russian words is available here.

пытаться

Meaning: try, attempt

Pronunciation: [pi-TAH-tsuh]

Part of speech: verb (imperfective aspect)

Rank: #344 (see frequency list)

He's now trying to get connected to the Internet.
Photo by noii's, licensed under CC-BY-SA-2.0

Example sentences:

Ну́жно пытáться что-то с э́тим дéлать!
You have to try to do something about it!
Я пытáлся занимáться, но не смог: бы́ло óчень шу́мно.
I tried to study but I couldn't, it was very noisy.
Слу́шай, а ты не пытáлась позвони́ть мáме?
Listen, have you tried calling mum?
Мы чéстно пытáлись вам помóчь, но ничегó не вы́шло.
We really tried to help you but nothing came out of it.
literal We honestly tried to help you but nothing came of it.
Cейчác он пытáeтся подключи́ться к Интернéту.
He's now trying to get connected to the Internet.
Дáже не пытáйся убеди́ть меня́ в том, что ты прав!
Don't even try to convince me you're right!
Мошéнники я́вно пытáлись меня́ обману́ть.
It was clear thet swindlers tried to сheat me.
literal Swindlers clearly tried to cheat me.
Больнóй пытáлся встaть, но не смог.
The sick man tried to get up, but couldn't.
Я пытáлся тебé дозвони́ться.
I tried to reach you on the phone.
Скóлько ни пытáйся, всë равнó ничегó не полу́чится.
No matter how much you try it, nothing will come out of it.

Related words:

попытáться = to try, attempt (perfective aspect)
cтáраться = to try, endeavour
попы́тка = to attempt

Verb conjugation:

Present Tense

I	пыта́юсь
you (singular)	пыта́ешься
he, she, it	пыта́ется
we	пыта́емся
you (plural)	пыта́етесь
they	пыта́ются

Past Tense

I, you (singular), he	пыта́лся
she	пыта́лась
it	пыта́лось
we, you (plural), they	пыта́лись

Future Simple Tense

The imperfective verb пытаться is not used in the Future Simple Tense. Use the perfective verb попытаться instead.

Future Compound Tense

I	буду пыта́ться
you (singular)	будешь пыта́ться
he, she, it	будет пыта́ться
we	будем пыта́ться
you (plural)	будете пыта́ться
they	будут пыта́ться

Imperative Mood (Command Form)

you (singular)	пыта́йся
you (plural)	пыта́йтесь

View full conjugation table for the verb pair пытаться/попытаться

Vocabulary lesson: By Russificate blog exclusively for MasterRussian

Phrase recordings: Copyright(c) 2011 MasterRussian.com. All rights reserved.
Word recordings: Copyright(c) 2006 Streit Goulnara, Streit Eric, Vion Nicolas. Copyright(c) 2007 S. Sakhno, N. Vion. Distributed under CC-BY.

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