Usage of "try and…"

Which is the right sentence?

1. People have always tried and be up to date about what the latest news have been

or

2. People have always tried and being up to date…

Solution 1:

Neither. Try and X is a colloquial expression which is only available in certain tenses. It isn't used in any past or continuous forms:

Possible:

I will try and fix it.

I'm going to try and fix it.

If I try and fix it, ...

You could try and fix it.

It should be possible to try and fix it.

Not possible:

*I tried and fixed it.

*I am trying and fixing it.

*I was trying and fixing it.

*I have tried and fixed it.

In all forms it can be replaced by try to fix (and some people feel that that is the only acceptable form, at least in formal use), and that form can be used in any tense.

Edit: the forms in the past are grammatical, but have a different meaning. Try and fix it refers to one activity or event (which is perhaps why some people prefer try to fix it). I tried and fixed it refers to two events - the trying and the fixing. They may not have been separate (eg I tried for several minutes and then succeeded) but there was a definite stage of trying before I fixed it. I'll try and fix it does not have that implication.