Хорошая попытка
The English phrase "good try" is translated into Russian as Хорошая попытка.
Хорошая попытка is used to mean "good try". Like in English, this phrase is often used in a sarcastic or condescending way to dismiss someone's effort. In competitive settings, you might instead use неплохая попытка (not bad attempt) or почти получилось (almost succeeded).
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase consists of the adjective хорошая, which means "good" (feminine) and the noun попытка, which means "try" or "attempt" (feminine).
How does it change in a sentence?
Because попытка is a feminine noun, the adjective must take the feminine ending -ая in the nominative case.
Did you know?
- The word попытка shares the same root as пытка, which means 'torture'. While they are distinct words today, they both historically stem from the idea of 'testing' or 'probing' someone's limits.
- If you want to sound truly native when being sarcastic, you can lengthen the vowels in Хорошая, making it sound like a slow, exaggerated 'ho-ro-shaya' to emphasize the irony.
- In certain Russian slang, if an attempt is particularly ridiculous, one might bypass the adjective 'good' entirely and just say ну, попытка как попытка, which translates to 'well, an attempt is an attempt'.
Examples in context
- Это была хорошая попытка.It was a good try.Tatoeba #4274777 by odexed, translation #2648493 by CK
- Это была очень хорошая попытка.That was a very good try.Tatoeba #7044469 by odexed, translation #3737541 by CK
- Хорошая попытка.Good try.Tatoeba #6764757 by odexed, translation #6710532 by Eccles17
- Молодец, ты постарался!Good try, you gave it your best!
- Ваша попытка была похвальной. Не сдавайтесь!Your attempt was commendable. Don't give up!
Example conversation
Alexander failed to score a goal during a friendly soccer match.
- Мария MariaХорошая попытка, Александр!Khoroshaya popytka, Aleksandr!Good try, Alexander!
- Александр AleksandrСпасибо, Мария, почти получилось.Spasibo, Mariya, pochti poluchilos'.Thanks, Maria, it almost worked.
- Мария MariaТы отлично играешь.Ty otlichno igrayesh'.You play great.
- Александр AleksandrЯ буду стараться лучше.Ya budu starat'sya luchshe.I will try harder.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
