How do you say "I try" or "I try to" in Italian?
Is it "provo" "provo di"
or "cerco" "cerco di"
example: "cerco il mio meglio"

correct or incorrect?

Question

How do you say "I try" or "I try to" in Italian?
Is it "provo" "provo di"
or "cerco" "cerco di"
example: "cerco il mio meglio"

correct or incorrect?

Answer

regarding you example, almost always we use this long expression:
-- cerco di fare del mio meglio

Other example:
Non so se vi piace il risultato, ma ho fatto del mio meglio.

Answer

"Cercare di" is "to try" when it is followed by an infinitive.

For example "Cerco di spiegare" : I try to explain. Your example, "cerco il mio meglio" means "I look (search) for my best", whereas I think you wanted "I try my best".

Provare is followed by "a" plus an infinitive. So "Provo a spiegare" : I try to explain. You can see that the meaning is the same, but the usage is different.

I hope this helped somewhat. I'm sure someone with much more skill in Italian (ie a native speaker) will come along and give a much better explanation! :)

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