That's a talent of mine! ;-) Perhaps some other teacher would have a crack (=try explaining!)
I share your (lack of) talent, but I'll try to explain.
If I try to do something, I make some sort of physical or mental effort to do it. I do not know whether my effort will be successful.
1. I will try to learn Czech again next year.
2. I am trying to learn Czech.
3. I tried to learn Czech last year.
The implication of #1 is that I fear that I may not succeed.
The implication of #2 is that I am not succeeding - if I were, I would say, "I am learning Czech ".
The implication of #3 is that I did not succeed. If I had succeeded, I would have said, "I learnt Czech last year".
If you try doing something, you actually do it, in order to see if the doing of it will bring a about a more satisfactorysituation in some way
.
A: I find Czech people very unhelpful.
B: Try learning their language. = Do it. You may find that they become more friendly if you speak to them in their own language.
Because we do not know the results of present or future efforts, the difference may not always be clear-cut
.
Because we
do know the results of past efforts, the difference is very clear:
I tried to open the window. This suggests that I made the efort but did not succeed in opening the window.
I tried opening the window. I
did open the window (possibly because I wanted to see if the air in the room would become fresher.
If trying to do something does succeed, then this is made clear:
I tried to open the window, and eventually managed it, but Luke had to help me.
Note that the success was only achieved with some difficulty.
