I fill the test and the sentence will be
“He tried running faster”
I wrote
“He tried to run faster”
who can help me to understand how can I guess to put running or to ran
thank you
You can’t! It’s a poor test if there is no indication of which answer will be accepted.
Hi Lili,
There is a difference between ‘try to do’ and ‘try doing’. When we use the infinitive, the meaning is ‘make an effort’ as in: We tried to open the car door in the snow but we didn’t succeed because the lock was frozen. Using the ‘ing’ form suggests that you are experimenting to see if something works as in: We used different ways to open the car door and even tried pouring boiling water over the lock to unfreeze it.
Alan
Although Alan’s advice is good, it doesn’t really help you, Lili. In a test where you are given the sentence in isolation, as in the above case, you still cannot tell which to use without additional information.
Surely the important thing regardless of this test, is to understand the difference in use of the two constructions and in that sense my advice, I would have thought, was helpful. The fact that the test doesn’t appear to indicate which one to use from further context means it hasn’t achieved its purpose.
Alan
Okay… “It doesn’t really help you in this particular situation, Lili.”
I wasn’t disputing the general helpfulness of your advice.
Thank you dear teachers , thanks Alan for explanation now I know the differences between them .
Dear Beeesneees of course i also agree that test is poor, don’t worry you always help me with your explanations.
I gratefull all teachers here you all always help me very much, indeed