There are a lot of things we say in everyday speech that aren’t exactly correct in formal writing. A couple of examples are “try and (do something)” and “anyways.” Neither one is wrong necessarily, but they’re both considered informal. And yet we hear them all the time because they are firmly rooted in casual dialect, which is why they’re considered slang.
Try to vs. try and: we say “try and” so often these days that it sounds fine if we aren’t paying attention. The Brits are a bit more forgiving of this and use both, but for American English, when you want to be correct, it’s try to.
Think of it this way—which of these two examples is correct?
“I’m going to try not and get overwhelmed by the project.” ❌
“I’m going to try not to get overwhelmed by the project.” ✔️
So it stands to reason that you’d also say:
“I’m going to try to stay on schedule with the project.” ✔️
With anyway vs. anyways, just remember to drop the s and you can’t go wrong.
Examples:
She went with him anyways. ❌
She went with him anyway. ✔️
Again, it’s not a huge deal in casual conversation, but keep it in mind. Practice like you mean to go on.
Happy writing! 🙂
Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash
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