Infos Grammaire

N3 Leçon 7: 17/21

う・よう + とするTry to, Attempt to, To be about to

Verb[Volitional]としても(even if someone attempts to) can be contracted to Verb[Volitional] + たって/ったって。

Structure

Verb［おう］ + とする

Détails

  • Standard

À propos de Verb[volitional]とする

When combined with the auxiliary verb う (or よう), とする carries the meaning of 'to try to do (A)', or 'to be about to do (A)'. The case marking particle と in this expression highlights a 'result'.

To use おうとする, modify the (A) verb into its う or よう receiving form, and then add とする.

As う and よう mark volition (the express intent to do something), とする adds the nuance that the express intent has been decided, and all that remains is to 'do' the action. This translates quite closely to 'to endeavor to do' in English, where the past form 'endeavored to do' will suggest that the attempt was unsuccessful.

Caution

ようとする is also regularly used to indicate when one action interrupts another. In these cases, the nuance is not quite 'to have endeavored', but more '(A) was already underway, when (B)'. Again, it will just show that the (A) action was decided upon 100%, when something caused an unexpected change.

Antonymes

En lien

Exemples

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  • 一度(いちど)に二(ふた)つのことをしようとするな。

    Don't try to do two things at once.

  • ひよこは親(おや)のように飛(と)ぼうとしても、できなかった。

    Even though the chick attempted to fly like its parents, it couldn't.

  • 答(こた)えようとしたのに、隣(となり)の人(ひと)に遮(さえぎ)られた。

    I tried to answer but the person next to me cut me off.

  • 見(み)ようとしたわけではないのに、見(み)えてしまいました。

    Even though I tried not to look, I inevitably saw it. (It's not like I tried to look)

  • 私(わたし)は止(と)めようとしたのに、言(い)うことを聞(き)いてくれないんです。

    I attempted to stop them, but they won't listen to what I say.

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      Verb[volitional]とする – Discussion Grammaire

      Réponses les plus récentes (15 au total)

      • casual

        casual

        I don’t understand this test sentence:

        ひよこは親のように飛ぼうとしても、できなかった。
        Even though the chick attempted to fly like its parents, it couldn’t.

        Neither Bunpro’s item, nor any of the linked resources explain when Verb[Volitional]としても would be used instead of Verb[Volitional]とする and what the difference is.

        A warning note just briefly mentions it as (even if someone attempts to). This sounds like it would be used about hypothetical situations that haven’t happened yet.

        In this sentence the situation already happened, the chick already tried to fly like parents and failed.

        It sounds to me like 飛ぼうとしたが would be correct for a situation that already happened, but it is marked incorrect.

      • Gacee

        Gacee

        So, I’m playing through Pokemon Sapphire and am immediately tripped up on a sentence here: 調査しようと草むら入ったら突然ポケモンに襲われてとにかくたすかったよ。ありがとう。

        This is in the scene where you save the prof from poochyena - he goes on to say, as I understand “I was about to do some research when suddenly a pokemon jumped out of the tall grass and attacked…”

        I’m led to believe that he is using this grammar point in this sentence, but what confounds me is the fact that every grammar resource I look at indicates that this phrase is always followed by する。So, my question is, does this sentence actually use this grammar point and if so, why the omission here when I seem to be struggling to find other examples of the omission being allowed?

      • casual

        casual

        I cannot find a clear cut source for this, but I think you can interpret 「調査しようと、action」 as “in order to investigate, I’ve done action”. Volitional communicates intention and と is a quotation.

        Maybe 「調査しようと思って草むらに入ったら」(〜ようと思う・〜おうと思う (JLPT N4) | Bunpro) is a way to unpack it, where と思う is shortened to と as it happens to it sometimes.

        Another similar construction could be （～ようとしたら、result） (Verb[volitional] + としたが (JLPT N3) | Bunpro), but in this case instead of する there’s a more specific action 入る.

        Hopefully someone can source this to a grammar book.

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