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I always think there must be a fresher, more elegant way of saying to manage to do something. I find myself simply avoiding the expression when I come across it, and now I would need again a solution. When I look for synonyms of this expression, dictionaries like powerthesaurus do not provide many interesting choices.

There is always the other option of to succeed in doing something but I find it has too many words and rather encumbers the sentence.

I am looking for other ways of saying this in general, but I will still give an example:

If we (manage) not to lose hope, we will be able to give hope to others.

What verb could replace manage here?

Note: I need a verb which can be followed by to do something.

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  • This is only an example, probably a poor one, of situation in which I need to express the idea of succeeding in doing something.
    – fev
    Commented Dec 19, 2020 at 11:44
  • If you need a verb to complete a phrase, the tag should be SWR not 'phrase-requests'. And you should supply a complete sentence. Research should also be shown (and remember that synonyms can often be found that work in constructions not accepting the original). // The only other verb I've found (contrive not being really suitable) that fits in ' ___ to do something' is effect, which is rare, appearing mainly in a few set expressions, and nowhere near as good a choice as manage.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Dec 19, 2020 at 12:21
  • If we handle this situation properly..... if we can work through this situation..... if we come through this unscathed....,
    – Kris
    Commented Dec 19, 2020 at 14:02

2 Answers 2

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I can contrive to answer your question by writing this sentence.

contrive = to arrange a situation or event, or arrange for something to happen, using clever planning

Cambridge Dictionary

The usage "contrive to" was more popular in the past according to google ngram but still lives on and seems appropriate to your context.

One example might be: “If we can somehow contrive not to lose hope, we will be able to inspire others.”

Here is an example (sorry, only available as an image rather than text) taken from

How to Succeed

enter image description here

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  • @fev yes I was. Sorry for delay. I hate doing answers on an iPad, where manipulation of symbols is so difficult, and moved to laptop.
    – Anton
    Commented Dec 19, 2020 at 9:57
  • So can I say "If we contrive not to lose hope"? Could you insert a n example of sentence with "contrive", if it's not too much to ask?
    – fev
    Commented Dec 19, 2020 at 9:59
  • I have quickly added an example. Others may do better.
    – Anton
    Commented Dec 19, 2020 at 10:02
  • @Anton: it does match the meaning I am looking for, but I am not sure it's common enough.
    – fev
    Commented Dec 19, 2020 at 12:03
  • Contrive is marginal here. As others have said, it sounds unnatural here (KannE puts this better), but also about half the usually cited dictionaries have the 'scheming / clever planning' sense/subsense as the default rather than the 'bring about'.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Dec 19, 2020 at 12:10
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While not exactly what you’re asking for, in your example you could replace the entire bit with “keep”.

If we can keep hope, we will be able to give hope to others.

This would work similarly for words like faith or belief.

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