てみる— Try Doing (and See)

• この料理を食べてみてください。

  Kono ryouri o tabete mite kudasai.

  Please try eating this dish.

  食べて + みて + ください = give eating it a try

• 新しい方法で挑戦してみます。

  Atarashii houhou de chousen shite mimasu.

  I'll try tackling it with a new method.

  挑戦して + みます = attempt it (experimentally)

• 今度の週末、あの喫茶店に行ってみます。

  Kondo no shuumatsu, ano kissaten ni itte mimasu.

  This weekend, I'll try going to that coffee shop.

  行って + みます = go and see what it's like

• ・てみる = do something to see how it goes; it is written in kana, not 〜て見る.
• ・Not the same as 試す (tamesu, 'to test/try out' as a standalone verb).
• ・てみたら = if/when you try it; てみた = tried it and found out.

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones てみる is tested against.

• Potential Form — Can / Be Able To (Verbs)
• がる／がっている — Describing Others' Feelings
• 〜出す (だす) — Abrupt Eruptions
• 〜始める (はじめる) — Intentional Beginnings
• 意向形 (いこうけい) — Volitional Form (Let's / I'll)
• くする / にする — Make something become (a quality)
• ながら — While doing (simultaneous actions, same subject)
• ないで — Without doing / Instead of doing