have it a try

atabitaraf · Jun 27, 2012

1. give it a try.
2. have it a try.
3. get it a try.
Although I found them all in google but I was not sure whether they are all gramatically correct.
I think the first one is correct, that's for sure but 'have' cannot be a double transitive verb.

bhaisahab · Jun 27, 2012

atabitaraf said:
1. give it a try.
2. have it a try.
3. get it a try.
Although I found them all in google but I was not sure whether they are all gramatically correct.
I think the first one is correct, that's for sure but 'have' cannot be a double transitive verb.

Only the first one is correct.

abaka · Jun 27, 2012

You may, however, say "make a try of it", "have a try of it". Or "have a try at it".

5jj · Jun 27, 2012

abaka said:
You may, however, say "make a try of it", "have a try of it". Or "have a try at it".

The first sounds very unnatural indeed to me; the second sounds wrong; the third is fine.

abaka · Jun 27, 2012

The Google test:

"make a try of it"

"have a try of it".

The variant with "make" is less common, but both phrases exist. Perhaps they are regional to North American English?

PS. The Google test for "have it a try" yields a thousand times more results than "make a try of it", so the phrase obviously exists. I am a little surprised at its frequency! Let me add that the two best choices are definitely the "give it a try" Bhaisahab's endorsed, and "have a try at it". I would also suggest the simple "try it".

5jj · Jun 27, 2012

abaka said:
The Google test:

The number of hits on google proves nothing at all about the acceptability of an expression. I have just googled "I is getting bored" and got 420,000 hits.

emsr2d2 · Jun 27, 2012

Give it a try.
Have a try.
Have a try at it.

I wouldn't use any other variant (except "Have a go at it" but that doesn't fit the original question, even though it's perfectly acceptable and means the same thing in the right context).

abaka · Jun 27, 2012

To 5jj:If I may disagree a little

... I think when gauging the existence of an idiom, frequency is everything. Style or even level of speech is quite another matter. Did you use quotes for the phrase, by the way? "I is getting bored" is unacceptable standard English, but as a phrase has 23 results. In several of these the irony is obviously intentional even if exasperating.

5jj · Jun 27, 2012

abaka said:
To 5jj:If I may disagree a little ... I think when gauging the existence of an idiom, frequency is everything. Style or even level of speech is quite another matter.

If it can be shown that a particular expression is frequently used by native speakers, then we can say that it is acceptable, subject to caveats about style, register, etc. The mere existence of it producing x thousand or million google hits proves nothing at all. Citations in COCA, BNC or some other corpora are far more convincing arguments for the acceptability of an expression.

atabitaraf · Jun 28, 2012

5jj said:
If it can be shown that a particular expression is frequently used by native speakers, then we can say that it is acceptable, subject to caveats about style, register, etc. The mere existence of it producing x thousand or million google hits proves nothing at all. Citations in COC, BNC or some other corpora are far more convincing arguments for the acceptability of an expression.

Would you please link the addresses mentioned with COC and BNC?

5jj · Jun 28, 2012

Sorry, I should have written COCA. Typo.

. I am now changing my original post.

BNC

atabitaraf · Jun 28, 2012

5jj said:
Sorry, I should have written COCA. Typo. . I am now changing it my the original post.

BNC

Yes, thank you because I googled and didn't find it.
Thanks again teacher.

SoothingDave · Jun 28, 2012

abaka said:
The Google test:

"make a try of it"

"have a try of it".

The variant with "make" is less common, but both phrases exist. Perhaps they are regional to North American English?

PS. The Google test for "have it a try" yields a thousand times more results than "make a try of it", so the phrase obviously exists. I am a little surprised at its frequency! Let me add that the two best choices are definitely the "give it a try" Bhaisahab's endorsed, and "have a try at it". I would also suggest the simple "try it".

They sound odd to this North American.

have it a try

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