On the subject of
"They are wrong to use animals for..."
and
"The are wrong using animals for.."
They are both correct, but i would probably use the 1st over the 2nd. I'm not sure if it grammatically incorrect, but it looks bad in writing, it sounds okay in conversational English, though.
I would do it like this
"Using animals for test subjects is immoral(or 何々).."
or to keep "they" as the subject.
"That they are using animals for test subjects is immoral(or 何々).."
and
"They are wrong to use animals for test subjects(or 何々).."
On the subject of "tried buying" and "tried to buy"
"tried to buy" indicates that you were not able to buy, but you tried.
"tried buying" means that you bought something for the first time (and had such and such a reaction.)
I tried buying the kit-kat grape flavor and i loved it!!
I tried buying the kit-kat galaxy flavor and it was terrible!
I tried to buy the kit-kat tokyo flavor but my credit card was declined.
Here i would only use "tried buying". "Tried to buy" sounds like:
"Have you ever tried to buy fresh flowers online but right when you were about to finalize the order, your internet cut out?" which works, but I don't think its what you were going for.
In this both work.
Here i wouldn't use "to buy", it doesn't sound right to me.
"Tried to buy" is for when the attempt is a failure and you arent able to buy it in the end. (I think!!
)
Hope this helps
Thank you for elucidating the difference, aardwolf.
Your post helped a lot.
People were pointing out things of that line but I was too dim-witted to recognise their points, pretty silly I was.
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And I am sorry nice gaijin that you did tell me something important and I failed to see it.:sorry:
wouldn't it be like the difference between 買おうとした and 買ってみた?
Seems like "Tried to buy" indicates an attempt at the act of purchasing, which probably led to failure. "Tried buying" sounds more like it wasn't the act of purchasing, but the outcome was unknown at the time of purchase.
"買おうとした and 買ってみた?" There are cavernous difference between "した" and "みた" in some context. The former is indeed "tried buying" but the later sounds like"have bought and saw what it does or how it is?".
It is related to he role of te from of verb I think. I wrote something about it yesterday:
I am happy to speak with you
For statements like 「山にのぼってみたが、頂上にはたどり着かなかった」 and 「山に登ろうとしたが、頂上にはたどり着かなかった」, what you have pointed out is exactly right. Strictly speaking there can be difference but not like anyone actually cares generally anyway.
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"Anxious to be helpful" at a trait level shows focus on the relief of "anxiety" through helping behavior and subtly away from the altruistic benefits of "helpfulness"/"usefulness" itself. Although this may not be a widespread perception. It could have a ton of implications dependent on context, etc.
Thanks for the reply Elizabeth, to think about it now probably not much association with the topic but now I think I understand the difference all thanks to you.
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As far as the original question regarding "try to buy" vs. "try buying" is concerned, I agree with what Nice Gaijin has suggested （買おうとする / 買ってみる）.
For example,
You had seen a TV ad for this great new brand of laundry detergent and decided to give it a try.
"I tried to buy the new brand but it was sold out."
"I tried buying the new brand for a while but it doesn't get the really tough stains out like they say in the ads and it was not worth the higher price."
In the first sentence, "try" in conjunction with "to + infinitive", means to put in an effort, or 目的（洗剤を買うこと）に向かって努力する、while in the second, the same verb "try" means something different. It means to sample, to see how it is、or 試す as in "try on a pair of jeans". So, what exactly did you 試す？ Buying (and using) the detergent.
Another example.
"Try to be here on time next week, OK? We can't start the show without the drummer."
来週は決められた時間に来るようにしてよね、いい？ ドラマーがいなくちゃショーが始められないの。 （決められた時間にはここに来るように努力する）
"If you don't want the rest of the band being mad at you, why don't you try being here on time for once?"
バンドのみんなに怒られるのが（みんなが怒っているのが）いやならさ、一度時間通りに来てみたら？ （一度試しに時間通りに来てみる）
I am sure there are variables but basically, that is how I would make the distinction between the two in this particular case of "try to ～ / try ～ing".
目的（洗剤を買うこと）に向かって努力する
hmm, interesting interpretation, while I am not quite sure if I understood properly, I do see something to do with intention or emotion, I wonder why it happens?: which gave me and idea that I've been trying to understand gerund alone but verb form exits in association with other parts of speech, so maybe I need to think about this more.
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it is wrong using animals for..==>superior
They are wrong using animals for...==>bad
In many situations, the gerand seems more vivid, more emotionally urgent or immediate ("in progress") and tends to be used more either by the people actually doing the action or directed at the behavior itself. And in this particular instance, the wrongness of the perpetrators is of secondary concern to the impact on the animals. Presumably. "
Up to the above point everyone seems to reach general consensus, but when it comes down to the interpretation of "Tried buying something", I see some diversity in opinions.
Possible causes:
regional differences
Difference in written and spoken English
The meaning of the sentence is Context dependent.
To sum up what has been posted so far(Probably doing this pretty badly though).
And from re-reading ASHIKAGA's post and breaking down the sentence, I came up with following:
Tried buying=====>
Attempted to curry out an action of buying
or
Tested the resultant state or result of action of buying
So there were two things to consider here: one is the possible meanings of "tried" in context and the other is gerund association with continuity or time.
On the other hand, for
Tried to buy=======>
"attempted to curry out an action of buying" is the only interpretation at least in this particular context, so to-infinitive regarded as something discrete in association with time?
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The potential of gerund to signify " resultant state of an action or time after" is rather interesting one:
Upon entering the Mansion, all felt their senses crooked.
Maybe this sort of usage is one of the reasons that people get different feelings from gerunds and to-infinitives?
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Now back to the difference of gerunds and to-infinitives when they can be used interchangeably.
I tried to buy it, but it was all sold out.
I tried buying it, but someone else got the last one.
At the point they can be used interchangeably, they are rather similar but, for people to say that they are different, I guess in some context, they may not be interchangeable to convey subtle difference?
How do interpret the below?
I tried buying it, but a boy snatched the last one before met.
I think: (I was in the act of buying)
I tried to buy it, but a by Snatched the last one before me.
I think: (I attempted the action but before I started, someone else got it)
Thank you Elizabeth, nice gaijin, ASHIKAGA, and aardwolf for posting.
I appreciate your patience and generosity to share your wisdom and using your valuable time for us.
"Tried buying" to me could be a failed purchase or item that didn't "work out" as intended. It also sounds less formal than "to buy" (to buy =more like tried "to purchase" ??)
