～ようとする

RuleVerb volitional + to suru: marks an attempt or the moment of being about to do something.

Curiosity

How do you express an attempt or the very moment of about-to, as in "I tried to open the door (but it would not)," in Japanese?

Intuition

The volitional (~you) forms the intent "to do," and to suru captures the moment of turning that intent into action. It means "just about to" or "(make an effort to) try to."

Visualization

iku (go) → ikou (volitional) → ikou to suru (try to go / be about to go). to suru attaches after the volitional.

行くdictionary form

Essence

Volitional + to suru (tabeyou to suru, ikou to suru). Two senses: (1) attempt ("strive to," with volitional verbs); (2) imminence ("just about to," often past ~you to shita with ~toki). Hard to use with non-volitional verbs. For how to form the volitional, see the volitional entry.

Examples

出かけようとしたとき、電話が鳴った。

Just as I was about to go out, the phone rang.

彼は何度も立ち上がろうとした。

He tried to stand up several times.

赤ちゃんが歩こうとしています。

The baby is trying to walk.

Mini-quiz

Which fits "just as I was about to sleep"? (volitional of neru + to suru)