～してみるは分かりません a te-miru I do not understand

Question

しかし、退院してみると、all of the translations say when/after I left the hospital

if is てーform みる why is it not some variation of try, however when I tried to leave the hospital,

Answer 1

Hello Sandy.

Very good question and a pretty high level of Japanese! Japanese grammar can get a little hard and their nuances can get a little difficult as well so I hope that this explanation helps.

To begin, the grammar phrase ～してみると is taken from the grammar verb phrase ～すると which means "thereupon" or "upon that", "after that". It shows an expected event that will happen after; however when used with the verb みる to become ～してみると it still carries that same meaning of "thereupon" or "after that", "upon that", however now this shows that you are attempting something and the event that will happen after that action can be an expected result, but you don't know until you do it.

Example:

お隣さんにお土産をあげようと思っていたけど、チャイムを押してみると誰もいなかったです。

(I thought about giving a gift to my neighbor, however when I rang on their doorbell, nobody was there).

ジェットコースターに乗ったことがなかったけど、乗ろうとしてみるとやっぱ楽しかったなー。

(I had never ridden a roller coaster before, but when I decided to ride one it sure was a lot of fun).

As for the 退院してみると, this can be translated as "when I decided (that it was time) to leave the hospital". It shows that you, or the hospital staff, believed that you were ready and give it a try to leave the hospital and the result that happened afterwards was probably to be expected. The example sentence provided above by another tutor is a perfect example of this.

Example:

病院から退院してみると、お父さんが「私の」家に住んでいた。

(My father started to live with me after I was released from the hospital).

I hope this explanation helps!

Answer 2

I am so proud of your level of Japanese, advanced! Understanding Japanese is sometimes complicated. This page is good tool to ask questions when you need!

I believe that using the term of してみると using for two different cases. One case is I choose to act, so the meaning of “when + subject + try it”. and another case is, "when + subject + verb +"

Please take a look the Example 1 and 2. Example 1 is when you choose to act something. It is not be obligated by anybody. Example of 2 is when the situations of when you act as natural action (as your question.)

Example 1:

　 電話では恐い声の人だったけれども、会ってみるとかっこいい人でした。

　（Although, his voice was scary over the phone, but he was handsome guy when I met him.)

　犬の毛を触ってみると柔らかかった。

　（It was soft when I touched the dog fur.)

Example 2:

　 病院から退院してみるとお父さんが家に住んでいた。

　（My dad started to live at my house when I released from the hospital.)

家に帰ってみるとお母さんがお菓子を用意してくれていた。

　（My mom already prepared snacks for me when I went to home.)

I hope you see the difference between Examples 1 and 2.

Answer 3

Hi Sandy,

Japanese translations are often not literal, as you might have already noticed.

In this case, at least from what I can guess without context, the literal meaning could be translated more or less as "when I decided to give it a try and leave the hospital".

The English translator decided to omit the verb "to try", because it would have sounded as if the speaker was attempting to leave the hospital - implying that they could be not allowed to (which is not the case). the speaker just decided to "give it a try" (to do it hesitantly since they are unsure of the results).

I hope this helps!