Curb stealing in the country

[zuzana]

Test No. incompl/advan-40 "The News", question 2

The idea behind the scheme is to try and ......... stealing in the country.

(a) curb
(b) kill
(c) maintain
(d) confuse

Test No. incompl/advan-40 "The News", answer 2

The idea behind the scheme is to try and curb stealing in the country.

Correct answer: (a) curb
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hi,and what here?

[Alan]

This means simply restrict.
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple

[Vitaly]

Interesting grammar "to try AND curb". Is it an expression or it just should be "to try TO curb"?

[Alan]

Hi Vitaly,

Glad you like the grammar. You might also like to note the following:

come and see
go and ask
stop and think

Alan
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English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story Progressive Forms

[Kati Svaby]

Hello Alan,

I met this expression when after a verb instead of "to" we see "and" .Then I had looked for its origin. "try and..." I found this:

"In fact, “try and” may be older than “try to,” according to etymologists. We often find “and” between two related verbs, and nobody squawks."

Similar ones: "come and...", " go and...", "stop and..."

http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2009/05/lets-try-try-again.html

Regards.
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