Try and or try to?

for me it is as broad as it is long, id est, they are interchangeable.
do not take it as a gospel truth, though.

inchoate

Hi guys,

In my opinion, 'try and . . .' is informal, and probably a bit substandard.

Best wishes, Clive

To me, "try and do something" doesn't sound that informal. I usually choose it instead of "try to do something", even because (again, to me) it has a better sound.

Just my two cents though.

[8]

Argh! This is one of my MAJOR pet peeves. I do understand that "try and" is taking over spoken English, but I feel strongly that "try to" is the only acceptable way to say this.

I will attempt to [whatever]. I may not succeed. But I'm not going to do two things: to try AND to [whatever].

And yes, I know I'm probably the only one who feels strongly about it. But I do.

Prescriptive American grammars will tell you that only "try to" is correct.
I have seen a textbook in French to teach the French to speak British English, and the expression was given there quite explicitly as "try and". It was explained there as an exception to the use of the infinitive. The "try to" version was treated as if it were a less-than-useful variant if not actually wrong!

CalifJimI have thought "try and" was British -- but I may be wrong.

I'm a Brit and I've always been taught "try and..." is wrong, but I digress: if someone said "I'm going to try and succeed" stressing the "and" that would express determination rather than be incorrect.

Looked at in the past tense: "I tried to succeed" nor

Grammar GeekArgh! This is one of my MAJOR pet peeves. I do understand that "try and" is taking over spoken English, but I feel strongly that "try to" is the only acceptable way to say this.

I will attempt to [whatever]. I may not succeed. But I'm not going to do two things: to try AND to [whatever].

And yes, I know I'm probably the only one who feels