Trying to / -ing

Question

Hello,Are both of these sentences correct:1. "I'm trying to make new friends."2. "I'm trying making new friends."The second one sounds really awkward, but on the other hand, you can say both "Try to play football" and "Try playing football."If the second isn't correct, is there any reason for it, or is it just how it is?Thanks a lot for any explanations!

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

anonymous2. "I'm trying making new friends."

That is not good English.

"Try" has different usage in the imperative than the indicative. It is a challenge to someone.

Try singing and talking at the same time.

Anonymous · Answer

anonymous
Are both of these sentences correct:
1. "I'm trying to make new friends."
2. "I'm trying making new friends."
The second one sounds really awkward, but on the other hand, you can say both "Try to play football" and "Try playing football."
If the second isn't correct, is there any reason for it, or is it just how it is?

They are both possible, but 2. is stylistically inelegant and for most speakers it probably violates the doubl-ing constraint (which bars two consecutive ing verb forms), thus making it ungrammatical.

Semantically, we have a difference of meaning:

In 1. "trying" means "endeavour", while in 2. it means, roughly, "test the effectiveness of".

Trying to / -ing

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