Tentiamo

Tentiamo is the first-person plural present indicative form of the Italian verb tentare, meaning to try, attempt, or tempt. In everyday use, it expresses an ongoing effort by the speaker and others, and can function as a proposal or invitation in the sense of “let’s try.” The verb can also carry the sense of tempting someone or testing something, depending on context.

Etymology and morphology: tentare derives from Latin tentāre, with the same broad sense of trying or testing. In Italian, tentare is a regular -are verb; present tense forms include io tento, tu tenti, lui tenta, noi tentiamo, voi tentate, loro tentano. The participle is tentato, and compound tenses use avere (ho tentato, avevo tentato).

Usage and constructions: the common construction is tentare di + infinito to express attempting to do something, for example, tentare di finire entro la giornata. It can also appear transitively with a direct object, as in tentare qualcuno (to tempt someone) or in the idiom tentare la fortuna, meaning “to tempt fate” or “to try one’s luck.”

Examples:

- Noi tentiamo di risolvere il problema entro stasera. (We are trying to solve the problem by tonight.)

- Lui ha tentato di convincerla. (He tried to convince her.)

- Non tentare la fortuna. (Don’t tempt fate.)

- Tentiamo di fare del nostro meglio. (Let’s try to do our best.)

Notes: tentare generally conveys a sense of effort or risk that is not always present with synonyms like provare, which is more broadly used for “to try” in everyday speech. The meaning of tentare can shift with context, from a straightforward attempt to a more provocative or testing sense when paired with nouns like la fortuna.