attempt, effort, try [noun] [de poging, de pogingen]

"Poging" is related to the verb "pogen", which is quite formal, which "poging" isn’t. Instead of "pogen" you’ll see "proberen", which translates to "to try". However, "proberen" doesn’t have a directly related noun, well… that would be "poging" then 🙂

"Poging" is often used in combination with the verb "wagen": "een poging wagen", which literally translates to "to wager/bet/risk an attempt", hence "to give it a try" or plain "to attempt/try".

In court, you’ll encounter the expression "poging tot [subject]" – literally translating to "attempt at […]", but which is commonly translated with "attempted […]", as in "attempted murder": "poging tot moord".

Examples:
– "Dit is al haar derde poging om haar rijbewijs te halen." 
("This is already her third attempt to get her driver’s license.")

– "En daar gaat-ie! Eerste poging voor de 2 meter 10 centimeter…" 
("And off he goes! First attempt at 2 meter and 10 centimeters." Note that in Dutch "centimeter" stays singular..)

– "De verdachte wordt beschuldigd van poging tot moord." 
("The suspect is charged with attempted murder.")

– "Marc, kun jij vandaag een DWOTD schrijven."  – "Ik heb eigenlijk geen tijd, maar ik zal een poging wagen…"
("Marc, can you write a DWOTD today?" – Actually, I don’t have time, but I’ll give it a try…")

Expressions:
– "Wie niet waagt, die niet wint": nothing ventured, nothing gained, fortune favours the bold. Lit.: Who doesn’t risk/bet, doesn’t win.

Related words:
– Proberen: to try [verb] [probeerde, geprobeerd].
– Pogen: to attempt [verb] [poogde, gepoogd].
– Probeersel: try-out [noun] [het probeersel, de probeersels].

Example:
– "Wat is dit voor presentatie?? Zeker één van Frank’s gekke probeersels…"
("What kind of presentation is this?? Must be one of Frank’s funny try-outs…")