"Try to" vs. "try and"
These phrases are largely interchangeable, though "try and" is generally avoided in more formal prose. Some say it's simply wrong, or that it ambiguously suggests two actions. But "try and" is standard, idiomatic like "come and visit" or "be sure and tell us". MWDEU has details: http://bit.ly/UikkHD
@StanCarey Hmm.... "try and" is, to me, softer, less direct... saying "try and be on time" vs "try to be on time" is more chiding.
@StanCarey When I try TO work with a cat on my lap, I may try AND succeed, or I may try AND fail.- @StanCarey ...because if I ever said "I'm going to try AND get some work done," my father would try TO rise from his grave and scold me.
@StanCarey Do you need to eat to drink or eat&drink? Do you need to try to eat or to try and (to) eat? "And" implies elliptical infinitive
@StanCarey And I'm with you 100% on language being defined by use, btw. My "is never correct" was meant tongue-in-cheek. #nuance
@StanCarey Quick self-administered straw poll: "try to" relates to a specific action, "try and" more a general goal.- @StanCarey Don't know how precisely I follow that "rule" though. I think I say "try'n" fairly often in speech.
@StanCarey 'Try and' is never correct in written English (but okay in reported conversation). Try to understand: we all try and fail.
@StanCarey I feel that "try and" is colloquial and generally incorrect grammar. I always correct to "to" when editing. Correct me?
@georginaguedes "Try to" is generally preferred in more formal contexts, but "try and" isn't wrong, or ungrammatical. It's standard too.
@StanCarey "Try and" irks me in formal writing or student writing (if intent is "try to), but I think it's fine in colloquial speech.
@kemulholland @stancarey I avoid 'try and' unless you are performing two actions, trying and doing something else. Which is rare...
@StanCarey I think I only (but not always) use "try and" when speaking in the first person, and I think I do it to sound informal.
@StanCarey my intuition is "try and" is for planning, "try to" is for attempting.
@StanCarey for me, 'try and VP' means to possibly attempt the VP. 'try to VP' means to definitely attempt the VP (which may/may not succeed)
