¿Probamos suerte en la rifa?

Probamos is the first person plural form of probar, so it literally corresponds to we try.

In this sentence, though, it is being used as a suggestion in question form, so it works like:

• Shall we try our luck...?
• Do you want to try our luck...?
• How about we try our luck...?

So the form is present tense, but the function is conversational: it suggests doing something together.

Yes. Probamos can mean either:

• we try / shall we try (present)
• we tried (preterite)

That happens because some -ar verbs have the same spelling for nosotros in the present and the preterite.

Here, the meaning is clearly not past because:

• it is a question
• it sounds like a suggestion
• probar suerte is a common expression used this way

If it were past, the context would usually make that obvious, for example with a time word:

• Ayer probamos suerte en la rifa.
  = Yesterday we tried our luck in the raffle.

Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.

So:

• ¿Probamos suerte en la rifa?
• ¿Nosotros probamos suerte en la rifa?

Both are possible, but the first is much more natural unless you want extra emphasis or contrast.

For example, nosotros might appear if you are contrasting groups:

• Ellos no quieren, pero ¿nosotros probamos suerte en la rifa?

Both are possible, but they are used a little differently.

• ¿Probamos suerte en la rifa?
  This sounds like a suggestion: Shall we try our luck in the raffle?

• Probemos suerte en la rifa.
  This is more like Let’s try our luck in the raffle. It is more direct and is not phrased as a question.

So ¿probamos...? is softer and more collaborative. It invites agreement.

Probar suerte is a common expression meaning to try one’s luck.

Literally, probar often means to try or to test, and suerte means luck. But together, the phrase is idiomatic: it means trying your chances in a situation where luck matters.

You can use it in many contexts, for example:

• Voy a probar suerte con ese concurso.
• ¿Y si probamos suerte en otro sitio?
• Ella fue a Madrid para probar suerte como actriz.

So it is not limited to raffles.

Because probar suerte is a fixed expression. In this expression, Spanish normally uses suerte without an article.

So the natural phrase is:

• probar suerte

not usually:

• probar la suerte

The version without the article is the standard idiomatic one.

Here, en means something like in or with respect to the raffle.

So probar suerte en la rifa means trying your luck in the raffle, as a participant in that activity.

This is natural Spanish because en is often used with games, events, contests, draws, and similar situations:

• participar en un sorteo
• ganar en la lotería
• tener suerte en un concurso

Using a here would not sound natural for this meaning.

Not exactly.

• rifa = raffle, usually involving sold tickets and a prize
• sorteo = draw or prize draw more generally
• lotería = lottery

In Spain, rifa often suggests a smaller-scale raffle, for example at a school event, local fair, or charity event.

So la rifa is a good word if the event is specifically a raffle rather than a national lottery.

The article la makes the raffle sound specific or known in the conversation.

So la rifa suggests:

• the raffle you both already know about
• the raffle happening here or now
• a raffle already mentioned before

If you said en una rifa, that would mean in a raffle, more generally or in an unspecified one.

Compare:

• ¿Probamos suerte en la rifa?
  = the raffle we know about

• ¿Probamos suerte en una rifa?
  = some raffle, not a specific one

Yes, it sounds natural in Spain.

It is a normal, conversational way to suggest doing something together. It feels:

• informal to neutral
• friendly
• everyday

A speaker in Spain would easily understand it and could say it naturally in the right context.

It is mostly neutral-conversational.

Because it means shall we...?, it includes the speaker and the other person or people together, so it does not really depend on tú versus usted in the usual way.

You could say it to:

• a friend
• a family member
• a colleague

If the situation were very formal, you might choose a different wording, but this sentence itself is not rude or slangy. It is simply conversational.

Yes, absolutely. That is also natural.

Compare the two:

• ¿Probamos suerte en la rifa?
  Slightly shorter, very natural as a suggestion

• ¿Vamos a probar suerte en la rifa?
  A bit more explicit, closer to Are we going to try our luck in the raffle? or Shall we go and try our luck...?

Both work. The original sentence is just a little more compact and idiomatic.

Spanish uses an opening question mark and a closing question mark around direct questions:

• ¿Probamos suerte en la rifa?

This helps the reader know from the start that the sentence is a question.

It is standard spelling in Spanish, so you should always include both in careful writing.