essayer at C1 — refined & idiomatic
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Flat dares, fitting rooms, stubborn attempts.
Idioms of trying
« Essaie toujours ! » sounds encouraging and is not. Said flat, it means go ahead, you will get nowhere; the tone does all the work. Its opposite in spirit is « l’essayer, c’est l’adopter »: one go and you are sold. Advertising coined it, and everybody now uses it about a gadget, a recipe or a shortcut.
« Avoir beau essayer » builds a concession, and after it failure always follows: « il a beau essayer, rien ne bouge ». Do not lose the concrete uses either, because they come up daily: in a shop « je peux essayer la veste ? » is the whole phrase you need, and the fitting room is « la cabine d’essayage ».
💡 Focus at this level: Idiomatic — essaie toujours, l’essayer c’est l’adopter, avoir beau essayer
👨🏫 How to use « essayer » at this level
1. « Essaie toujours ! » = go on then. Flat tone means you will fail.
2. « L’essayer, c’est l’adopter » = one try and you are hooked.
3. « Il a beau essayer » = however hard he tries. Concession, failure follows.
🔊 Example sentences
✍️ Practice
Which is sceptical: « Essaie toujours ! » or « Essaie donc ! » ?
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« Essaie toujours ! » — it means go on, you will get nowhere, while « essaie donc » genuinely encourages.
In a shop, ask to try the jacket on and name the room you do it in.
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« Je peux essayer la veste ? », in « la cabine d’essayage » — one verb covers clothes, cars and ideas.
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🧩 Sentence builder put the words in the right order