Я стараюсь не переживать перед экзаменом.

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Breakdown of Я стараюсь не переживать перед экзаменом.

• не: not
• перед: before
• стараться: to try

Questions & Answers about Я стараюсь не переживать перед экзаменом.

What does the -сь ending in стараюсь mean? Is it like “myself” in English?

The -сь / -ся ending is the reflexive marker in Russian, but it doesn’t always mean “myself” or “yourself” the way English reflexives do.

• The verb here is стараться (not старать
  • -ся).
• Many Russian verbs are just reflexive in their basic dictionary form, and there is no non‑reflexive version in normal use.

In this sentence, стараюсь basically just means “I try / I make an effort”. The -сь does not add a clear “myself” meaning; it’s simply part of how the verb стараться is formed and conjugated:

• я стараюсь – I try
• ты стараешься – you try
• он старается – he tries

So you should learn стараться as a single verb meaning “to try, to make an effort,” rather than trying to interpret -сь separately here.

Why does the sentence use стараюсь and not пытаюсь? Aren’t both “I try”?