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In my native language, we use the verb for "work" + the infinitive marker to indicate that someone is making an effort/striving/endeavouring/trying to do something. To me, it seems that all these expressions (make an effort, strive, endeavour, try) have a very strong sense of 'doing one's best, but with a strong possibility of not succeeding', but I need a more neutral expression. So, now I'm wondering whether it is possible to use "work" in this sense in English too; more specifically, would the following examples be idiomatic, or is there another verb that would be a better fit?

In the following months, we will work to establish cooperation with X.

They will work to create a more tolerant workplace.

They promised to work to increase the number of sustainable options.

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  • @Lambie YES!!!! Yes!!! That's exactly what I'm after!! Thank you!!!
    – Gerda
    Mar 19 at 22:24
  • @Lambie Could you put that in an answer, so I have an answer to check as the one solving my problem?
    – Gerda
    Mar 19 at 22:25
  • @Lambie And in many cases I could also turn the gerund into a regular NP, right? So I'd have "work towards a more tolerant workplace" and "work towards an increased number of sustainable options" – right?
    – Gerda
    Mar 19 at 22:30
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    Yes, right, Gerda.
    – Lambie
    Mar 20 at 19:06

2 Answers 2

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Question:

**To me, it seems that all these expressions (make an effort, strive, endeavour, try) have a very strong sense of 'doing one's best, but with a strong possibility of not succeeding', but I need a more neutral expression. **

work to do something is fine in English.

But I think what you want is: to work towards something. It's followed by a gerund: We'll work towards creating a more tolerant workplace.

work towards something means you haven't yet reached a particular goal.

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Yes, these are all correct and idiomatic in English. In these expressions, the word "work" essentially means "to exert effort," and the to-infinitive expresses the purpose of that effort.

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