אני מנסה להתניע.

I

Breakdown of אני מנסה להתניע.

• לנסות: to try
• להתניע: to start (an engine)

Questions & Answers about אני מנסה להתניע.

How do I pronounce אני מנסה להתניע?

A common pronunciation is:

ani menasé lehatnía if the speaker is male
ani menasá lehatnía if the speaker is female

A few helpful notes:

• אני = ani
• מנסה changes slightly in pronunciation depending on gender, even though it is usually written the same without vowel marks
• להתניע is pronounced roughly le-hat-NI-a

Does this mean I am trying or I try?

In Hebrew, the present tense often covers both ideas.

So אני מנסה להתניע can mean:

• I am trying to start ...
• I try to start ...

In most real situations, context makes it clear that it means I am trying right now.

What exactly is מנסה grammatically?

מנסה is the present-tense form of the verb לנסות, which means to try.

A useful thing to know is that Hebrew present tense works a bit differently from English:

• it behaves a lot like a participle
• it agrees with gender and number
• it does not show person by itself the way English does

So מנסה means something like trying, and אני tells you that the subject is I.

Does מנסה show whether the speaker is male or female?