Mrrlin
~ようとする Hi! I have troubles with understanding ~ようとする construction. Explanations in different books and sites are too various and sometimes contradictory. One book says it means that "something is about to occur" or "someone trying to do something". Another explains that the construction could explain intention. I even found meaning "tried to do, but failed". So I can see that there is some pattern in all this explanations, but still can't understand it clearly.
Sep 14, 2014 12:04 PM
Answers · 1
1
I think your book is right. "tried to do, but failed" (~しようとした) depends on the context. ~しようとした just says "tried to do something," but it can mean "but failed" depends on the context (but not always).
September 14, 2014
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