✅  Try and attempt are often used interchangeably, but try is the more general word for putting in effort toward accomplishing a goal (try to finish the book).

✅  Attempt often suggests a stronger effort or a more serious goal (attempt to run a marathon) and that failure is likely or even expected (The contestant will attempt to make a perfect soufflé).

✅  Try can be used on its own or with another verb (I’ll try; I’ll try to change her mind), but attempt always has either an object or another verb following it (I’ll attempt the climb; I’ll attempt to change the tire).

Try using the word attempt in a paragraph describing your goals, with the help of Grammar Coach.

✅  Divide is the best word to mean splitting something according to a plan or measurement, usually into equal parts (divide the winnings).

✅  Separate means to put or break apart things that were previously connected, physically or otherwise (separate the wheat from the chaff), and often suggests keeping things apart, or keeping one thing away from its counterparts (We had to separate the children because they kept getting into trouble).

✅  More figuratively, divide can refer to a difference of opinion, suggesting that this difference is difficult to reconcile (We were divided over the issue), while separate can mean to part company or withdraw from association with a person or a group (The teenagers separated themselves from their parents to find their identities).

Try writing a paragraph about separating two things with the help of Grammar Coach!

✅  Effort is the best word to refer to the energy used in the pursuit of a goal (I put a lot of effort into my studies).

✅  Exertion refers to the energy used in strenuous activity, often without mention of a goal or given end (He was exhausted from the exertion).

✅  Effort is the more general term, but can refer to doing something that requires the vigorous energy of exertion when intensified with an adjective like massive or enormous (It took enormous effort to finish the climb).

It won’t take much effort to take a look at these synonyms for exertion!