"She looks without trying to understand."

Translation: Elle regarde sans chercher à comprendre.

[Stacy999795]

When do you use chercher à as opposed to chercher de

[Ripcurlgirl]

When "chercher" is followed by a verb, it means "to try" or "to attempt" and must be followed by the preposition "à ".

To my knowledge, "chercher de " is not used anymore though you may come across it in literature from the past as it was employed by writers such as Proust:

Ex : « Dans ma crainte que le plaisir trouvé dans cette promenade solitaire n'affaiblît en moi le souvenir de ma grand'mère, je cherchais de le raviver en pensant à telle grande souffrance morale qu'elle avait eue; ... Proust, Sodome et Gomorrhe, 1922, p. 782 »

[oNcPAsW2]

Ok so I was meant to use "chercher" but I put "essayer à" and was told it should be "essayer de"...now I am totally lost. In this case "Elle" is a real person, not a dummy subject.

[Ripcurlgirl]

"essayer de faire [qqch] " = to try to do something.
"chercher à " and "essayer de " have equivalent meanings.

See:
https://www.wordreference.com/fren/essayer https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/chercher-%C3%A0-essayer-de.1294692/ [note that the thread is written in French].

[deactivated user]

"Elle regarde sans essayer de comprendre." marked as correct

French prepositions are undoubtedly difficult for native English speakers--such as myself--learning FASL.

One thing I find helpful to remember is the "euphony" inherent in speaking French. If only modern-day English placed such an emphasis on euphony! It takes much practice, but the sound of the French language reveals its structure instinctively and hopefully, un jour, harmoniously.

[DenisBouch7]

Merci, tu m'aides beaucoup!

[moonswooning]

I thought regarder was to watch but voire was to look/see

[Ripcurlgirl]

regarder means "watch, look, regard".
voir (no "e" on the end) generally means "see" though, in certain contexts, it can mean "look", but this isn't one of them. See (no pun intended) here:
https://www.wordreference.com/fren/voir