To try in Spanish

Question

We use the word 'try' in English all the time. Which word is closer to that in Spanish? Tratar or intentar? Thanks!

Answer 1

I'm not a native speaker, but from my understanding:

Tratar is usually used with the present progressive tense. Example:
Mom: ¿Qué haces? -> What are you doing?
Me: Estoy tratando de limpiar. -> I'm trying to clean up.
Note: Tratar also has a lot of other meanings that you should probably look up

Intentar is used more like the verb "to attempt" and is usually used when you're encouraging someone to do something (or not to). Example:
Inténtalo -> give it a try
Ni lo intentes -> don't even try it.

Answer 2

There are always so many ways to express things. Here are a couple ways I have heard native speakers of spanish express to try that you probably will not find in a dictionary:

Voy a hacer la lucha

A ver si puedo

Basically translates to I'm going to battle or struggle, and let's see if I can.