कोशिश करना means make an attempt or try to bring about an outcome. The expression combines feminine noun कोशिश with करना. Its most frequent complement is infinitive-ने की कोशिश करना, but a कि clause is available when the attempted outcome is a fuller proposition. English try also covers sampling and testing; those meanings often require आज़माना or चखना, not कोशिश करना.
Principal forms
कोशिश remains unchanged, while करना supplies the verbal paradigm. In the perfective, unmarked feminine कोशिश controls की.
| Category | Forms |
|---|---|
| infinitive | कोशिश करना |
| habitual | कोशिश करता / करती / करते |
| progressive | कोशिश कर रहा / रही / रहे |
| perfective | कोशिश की |
| conjunctive | कोशिश करके |
| prospective | कोशिश करने वाला / वाली / वाले |
वह हर दिन समय पर पहुँचने की कोशिश करता है।
vah har din samay par pahũcne kī kośiś kartā hai.
He tries to arrive on time every day.
हम अभी सर्वर दोबारा शुरू करने की कोशिश कर रहे हैं।
ham abhī sarvar dobārā śurū karne kī kośiś kar rahe haiṃ.
We are trying to restart the server now.
Habitual कोशिश करता है describes repeated effort; progressive कोशिश कर रहा है presents an attempt currently under way. The predicate does not guarantee success.
Infinitive-ने की कोशिश
The attempted action is normally an oblique infinitive followed by feminine genitive की: खोलने की कोशिश, समझाने की कोशिश, बचने की कोशिश. The understood doer of the infinitive is generally the subject of कोशिश करना unless context supplies another controller.
मैंने खिड़की खोलने की कोशिश की, लेकिन वह जाम थी।
maĩne khiṛkī kholne kī kośiś kī, lekin vah jām thī.
I tried to open the window, but it was stuck.
डॉक्टर ने मरीज को धीरे-धीरे चलने की कोशिश करने को कहा।
ḍokṭar ne marīz ko dhīre-dhīre calne kī kośiś karne ko kahā.
The doctor told the patient to try walking slowly.
The second sentence explicitly supplies मरीज as the understood walker through the higher command frame. The sequence can become dense, but each marker has a job: चलने की depends on कोशिश, while कोशिश करने को depends on कहा.
कि-clause alternatives
कोशिश करना कि... is natural when the goal is a whole proposition, especially when its subject differs, when the desired situation is negative, or when the speaker foregrounds the outcome rather than a single action. The embedded verb commonly appears in the subjunctive.
हम कोशिश करेंगे कि किसी यात्री को असुविधा न हो।
ham kośiś kareṅge ki kisī yātrī ko asuvidhā na ho.
We will try to ensure that no passenger is inconvenienced.
उसने कोशिश की कि बच्चे शोर से न जागें।
usne kośiś kī ki bacce śor se na jāgeṃ.
He/She tried to keep the children from waking because of the noise.
For the same simple agent and action, the infinitive construction is usually tighter: उसने जल्दी आने की कोशिश की. The कि-complement guide explains the independent clause boundary.
Perfective transitivity and success
कोशिश करना is agentive. A simple perfective agent normally takes ने, and feminine कोशिश gives की. The perfective bounds the attempt; it still does not entail that the intended result occurred.
टीम ने समय सीमा बढ़वाने की पूरी कोशिश की।
ṭīm ne samay sīmā baṛhvāne kī pūrī kośiś kī.
The team made every effort to have the deadline extended.
To state success, add an achieved-result predicate: कर पाया, सफल हुआ, or the actual event. To state failure, use कोशिश की, पर... नहीं.... English sometimes lets tried pragmatically imply failure, but Hindi does not encode that inference in कोशिश itself.
उसने कई बार कोशिश की और आख़िर ताला खोल पाया।
usne kaī bār kośiś kī aur āxir tālā khol pāyā.
He tried several times and finally managed to open the lock.
Future and subjunctive
| Person | Subjunctive | Future masculine | Future feminine |
|---|---|---|---|
| मैं | कोशिश करूँ | कोशिश करूँगा | कोशिश करूँगी |
| तुम | कोशिश करो | कोशिश करोगे | कोशिश करोगी |
| यह / वह | कोशिश करे | कोशिश करेगा | कोशिश करेगी |
| हम / आप / ये / वे | कोशिश करें | कोशिश करेंगे | कोशिश करेंगी |
मैं शाम तक मसौदा भेजने की कोशिश करूँगी।
maĩ śām tak masaudā bhejne kī kośiś karū̃gī.
I will try to send the draft by evening. (female speaker)
चाहिए कि हम पहले शांतिपूर्ण समाधान की कोशिश करें।
cāhie ki ham pahle śāntipūrṇ samādhān kī kośiś kareṃ.
We should first try for a peaceful solution.
The last example has a noun goal समाधान की कोशिश, a somewhat more formal pattern than the everyday infinitive complement.
Imperatives and participles
The imperative series is intimate कोशिश कर, familiar कोशिश करो, and respectful कोशिश कीजिए. कोशिश करिए also occurs. Direct encouragement often adds एक बार, फिर, or तो.
एक बार उससे खुलकर बात करने की कोशिश करो।
ek bār usse khulkar bāt karne kī kośiś karo.
Try talking to him/her openly once. (familiar)
Participles include कोशिश करते हुए, कोशिश करके, कोशिश की हुई, and कोशिश करने वाला. An attributive perfective is possible but often heavy; a relative clause may sound clearer.
समस्या सुलझाने की कोशिश करते हुए हमें एक और गड़बड़ी मिली।
samasyā suljhāne kī kośiś karte hue hameṃ ek aur gaṛbaṛī milī.
While trying to solve the problem, we found another fault.
Compounds, causation, and idiom
कोशिश कर लेना can present making an attempt as a manageable step; कोशिश कर पाना means be able to make the attempt; कोशिश करते रहना means keep trying. Another highly idiomatic trial construction is करके देखना, literally “do and see,” used when testing whether an action works.
सेटिंग बदलकर देखो; शायद आवाज़ ठीक हो जाए।
seṭiṅg badalkar dekho; śāyad āvāz ṭhīk ho jāe.
Try changing the setting; perhaps the sound will improve. (familiar)
कोशिश करवाना is possible when someone causes or requires another person to attempt something, but it can sound coercive and is less general than English make someone try. Often से कोशिश करने को कहना states the participants more clearly.
प्रशिक्षक ने सभी खिलाड़ियों से नया अभ्यास करने की कोशिश करवाई।
praśikṣak ne sabhī khilāṛiyoṃ se nayā abhyās karne kī kośiś karvāī.
The coach had all the players attempt the new exercise.
The idiom जी-जान से कोशिश करना means try with all one's might.
बचाव दल ने फँसे हुए लोगों तक पहुँचने की जी-जान से कोशिश की।
bacāv dal ne phãse hue logoṃ tak pahũcne kī jī-jān se kośiś kī.
The rescue team tried with all its might to reach the trapped people.
False English equivalences
Use कोशिश करना for attempting an action. To try food, say चखना; to test a method, device, or product, आज़माना is often better. English uses one verb across these situations, but Hindi lexicalizes the distinction.
नई चाय चखिए और बताइए कि स्वाद कैसा है।
naī cāy cakhie aur batāie ki svād kaisā hai.
Try the new tea and tell me how it tastes.
Common Mistakes
❌ मैं समय पर पहुँचना की कोशिश करूँगा।
Incorrect — the infinitive is oblique before की.
✅ मैं समय पर पहुँचने की कोशिश करूँगा।
maĩ samay par pahũcne kī kośiś karū̃gā.
I will try to arrive on time. (male speaker)
❌ उसने दरवाज़ा खोलने का कोशिश किया।
Incorrect — कोशिश is feminine, requiring की and perfective की.
✅ उसने पिछला दरवाज़ा खोलने की कोशिश की।
usne pichlā darvāzā kholne kī kośiś kī.
He/She tried to open the back door.
❌ वह ने लगातार कोशिश कर रहा था।
Incorrect — an ongoing progressive subject does not take perfective ने.
✅ वह लगातार कोशिश कर रहा था।
vah lagātār kośiś kar rahā thā.
He was trying continuously.
❌ इस मिठाई की कोशिश करो।
Incorrect for tasting food — कोशिश करना expresses an attempt, not sampling.
✅ यह नई मिठाई चखकर देखो।
yah naī miṭhāī cakhkar dekho.
Try this new sweet. (familiar)
Key Takeaways
कोशिश करना is a feminine noun-plus-करना predicate. Its main complement is infinitive-ने की, while कि clauses package fuller outcomes and often contain a subjunctive. Perfective agents take ने and the form is कोशिश की. Compounds express persistence or feasibility, but none makes success part of कोशिश itself.
Related Topics
- करना karnā: to doA1 — Reference करना across its major paradigms, including irregular किया, ergative perfectives, causatives, and productive noun-plus-करना predicates.
- Complement clauses with किB2 — Use कि to embed a finite proposition as the content of speech, thought, knowledge, perception, evaluation, or desire while preserving local syntax.
- Oblique infinitive -neA2 — Recognize and form the Hindi oblique infinitive in -ने before postpositions and in purpose, onset, and related non-finite constructions.
- Perfective object agreementA2 — Make a transitive perfective agree with an eligible unmarked direct object after ने, including gender-number and auxiliary-bearing forms.
- Noun plus करना predicatesB2 — Build Hindi conjunct predicates in which a noun supplies the event and करना carries tense, aspect, agreement, and agentive structure.
- Verb stem plus सकना पाना चुकनाC1 — Choose सकना for capacity, पाना for attained success, and चुकना for an action viewed as already completed.