Tom essayait d'être drôle.
Tom was trying to be funny.
Tom essayait d'amuser Marie.
Tom was trying to entertain Marie.
Tom essayait de ne pas sourire.
Tom was trying not to smile.
Tom essayait de contrôler sa colère.
Tom was trying to control his anger.
Tom essayait de cacher son addiction.
Tom tried to hide his addiction.
Je pense que Tom essayait de nous avertir.
I think Tom was trying to warn us about something.
Tom essayait de vendre sa vieille voiture.
Tom tried to sell his old car.
Je ne sais pas ce que Tom essayait de dire.
I don't know what Tom was trying to say.
Tom essayait de contrôler son propre tempérament violent.
Tom was trying to control his own violent temper.
Tom essayait d'oublier son chagrin d'amour en jouant du piano.
Tom tried to forget his love sorrow by playing the piano.
Peut-être Tom essayait de nous avertir à propos de quelque chose.
Maybe Tom was trying to warn us about something.
Mary se sentait comme si Tom essayait de la déshabiller avec ses yeux.
Mary felt like Tom was undressing her with his eyes.
Examples from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Europarl (OPUS). Sentences are not reviewed one by one.