Try II: ～ようにする & ～ようとする
The pattern ～ようにする, when used in the sense of “to try…” – Usage I discussed in this lesson – is often confused with ～ようとする, which indicates active execution of an agent’s willpower to do something. Putting aside their different morphology, many learners confuse these patterns due to how they are often so similarly translated.
Previously in Try I: ～てみる・みたい・みせる, we learned how ～てみる is used to denote a trial at doing something.
i. 和牛を食べてみる？
Care to try wagyu?
Even before we get started, it is important to understand that “trial-based” attempts are not what either ～ようにする and ～ようとする describe. It may be inevitable at first to get stuck on the word “try” popping up to describe all three patterns, but learning what sorts of scenarios “try” can cover and how those scenarios are handled in Japanese is the point of this second installment.
～ようにする
As a recap, ～ようにする, as it pertains to habitual behavior, denotes a serious attempt on the part of the agent to perform/bring to fruition some conduct/behavior. Whether the action itself is a one-off occasion or will successfully result in habitual change depends on the context, but the take away is that attempt(s) are being taken. Not only that, but there is some benefit to be gained by the agent if said change holds.
| Affirmative | 連体形 ＋ ～ようにする | to try to… |
| Negative | 未然形 ＋ ～ないようにする | to try not to… |
As can be deduced from how this pattern connects to verbal predicates, it must be noted that ～ようにする itself attaches to the 連体形. This is because よう derives from 様 which literally means “condition” and still functions as a noun. In the case of the verbal element being negative before よう, that phrase is still in the 連体形, but to simplify things1, the learner is reminded that ～ない attaches to the 未然形 of verbs.
1. お肉を食べないようにしています。
I am trying not to eat meat.
2. 毎朝歯を磨くようにしています。
I am trying to brush my teeth every morning.
3. 遅れないようにしてください。
Please try not to be late.
4. 無理しないようにしてくださいね。
Try not to push yourself, okay.
Incidentally, it is not impossible for ～ようにする to be combined with ～てみる, especially when “try to…” for the former is stilted toward “make sure to…”
5a. 後で見てみますね。
5b. 後で見てみるようにしますね。
5a. I’ll check it out later.
5b. I’ll make sure to check it out later.
“To check it out” makes it clear that the act of 見る pertains to giving something the chance at being watched. From a plain reading of the text, Ex. 5a is a direct, affirmative statement, whereas Ex. 5b avoids this direct statement and pivots to only promising that “make sure to…,” which is why the pattern ～ようにする is still often translated as “to try…” because if the effort does not hold (habitual nature hinging on whether the situation at hand is a one-off scenario), then the agent is not actually doing said thing – hitting on the possibility that the agent could be lying. But, as any of us have surely experienced in any language that we speak, lying is always possible, and so tonality would be crucial in telling whether the agent is going to make sure, and if it does sound sincere, then the nuance layer of “effort (努力)” would make sense.
～ようとする
Before even delving into how ～ようとする differs semantically from ～ようにする, let’s go over the most blatant difference: that being the ～よう is not even the noun 様 and that this pattern will look different depending on the 未然形 of the verb that it attaches to.
What we are actually looking at here is the volitional auxiliary ～（よ）う attaching to verbs which is then followed by the citation particle と used in tandem with a citation verb, which in this instance, する fills that role – something to keep in mind when we see instances of it being replaced with other verbs. So, without further ado, let’s recap how to conjugate with ～（よ）う in the context of this pattern.
| Verb Class | Example | 未然形 | ＋～（よ）うとする |
| 一段 | 食べる | tabe– | 食べようとする |
| 五段 | 飲む | nomo2– | 飲もうとする |
| サ変 | する | shi–3 | しようとする |
| カ変 | 来る | ko- | 来（こ）ようとする |
Understanding What “Try…” Means
At its basic understanding, ～（よ）うとする indicates a volitional attempt in motion at completing said action. Thus, the action is in the present and cannot be construed as a continuous effort, which is a stark difference between it and ～ようにする.
6a. バッタを食べるようにしている。
6b. バッタを食べようとしている。
6c. バッタを食べてみた。
6a. I’m trying to eat grasshoppers.
6b. I’m trying to eat the grasshopper(s).
6c. I tried eating grasshopper.
With this grotesque example, we see how both patterns can take ～ている but that the duration implied is completely different. Ex. 6a suggests going on a grasshopper diet, whereas Ex. 6b. depicts a single yet ongoing attempt to eat whatever grasshopper(s) have been presented to the agent. We can also distinguish Ex. 6b from Ex. 6c, which is a mere trial of grasshoppers taste, by honing in one what the exercise of volition implied by ～（よ）う truly entails. With this volitional auxiliary, the goal “eating the grasshopper(s)” is firmly rooted, and the agent is exerting their freewill to complete said goal.
7. ワインを飲もうとしました。
I tried to drink (the) wine.
Like, ～ようにする, however, the attempt may still fail with ～（よ）うとする, but if the attempt fails, that is simply the end of that single attempt. Meaning, there is nothing implied that the effort is being perpetuated.
8. 起きようとしましたが、起きられませんでした。
I tried/attempted to get up, but I couldn’t.
Interrupted Attempts: “Just about to…”
In some contexts, the attempt onset by ～（よ）うとする can be interrupted. This is made apparent when it constitutes a dependent clause that is then followed by what ends up happening instead. This is an extension of the logic behind what happens when such attempts fail like in Ex. 8 but with a new context being introduced. This usage can be translated on the lines of “just about to…”
9. 朝ご飯を食べようとした時、電話がかかってきました。
Just when I was going to eat breakfast, I got a telephone call.
Because of the phone call, the act of “eating breakfast” could not actually come into fruition. The agent only got so far as to set the process in motion – perhaps putting fork and spoon in hand – only to be interrupted. This aspect restriction on the nature of V1 with ～（よ）うとする crucial to proper understanding.
10. エレベーターに乗ろうとした時、後ろから走ってきた男に押されたんです。
Just as I was about to get onto the elevator, I was pushed by a man who came running from behind.
11. その後、店で財布を出そうとしたけれど、何もなかったんです。
After that, just as I tried to take out my wallet in the store, nothing was in it.
Restrictions on ～（よ）うとする
Providing that ～（よ）うとする, without any added morphology, pertains to the onset of an attempt in the sense that the agent is setting themselves out to complete said action. Yet, because failure is possible, in the non-past tense at least, the action at hand has not actually occurred, although it is fair to say that it is right before possible success. To put that back into perspective, let’s go back to our grasshopper eating example.
6b’. バッタを食べようとする。
To try/attempt to eat the grasshopper(s).
What if the grasshoppers are still very much flying around? The agent would have to potentially go through some serious hurdles before the grasshoppers gets into their mouth.
Imagine if you are in the planning stage. When you are planning to attempt to do something, the thought of that attempt is still there, but then that needs to be accounted for as a thought, and the ongoing nature of that thought would need to be accounted for by ～ている. With all that in mind, we get Ex. 12.
12a. 日本へ留学しようとします。X
12b. 日本へ留学しようと思っています。〇
Intended: I will try to study abroad in Japan.
⇒I am thinking about studying abroad in Japan.
What if something spurs that desire to attempt something? In that moment in which the thought hit you mind, you might get something like:
13. それじゃ、一回だけ行ってみようと思います。
In that case, I think I’ll try/attempt going just once.
Here, we actually see ～てみる used in tandem with ～（よ）うと to capture this reactionary thought about the agent being comfortable contemplating whether they will go about doing said action, which is the volitional aspect.
Incidentally, there is nothing preventing us from combining the notion of trial and announcing one’s volition to bring about said trial. Thus, we go back to grasshoppers.
6c’. バッタを食べてみようと思う。
6c”. バッタを食べてみようと思っています。
6c’. I think I’ll try eating a grasshopper.
6c”. I’m thinking/planning on trying to eat a grasshopper.
It may go without saying at this point, but it is also worth noting how the English translations we have seen so far exhibit an equal degree of complexity in how similar structures combine.
Next, in Ex. 14a, there are two grammatical issues. The first issue is that すぐ and ～（よ）とする contradict each other. If the pattern in the non-past only captures the onset before it gets to happen, throwing “immediately/right away” into the mix would just be bizarre, as the ungrammatical state of the English translation confirms. The second is the use of ～んですか. Granted that there was some conversation about Tomoko’s itinerary, we would still need a basis for her desired quick departure to be tied to some bigger picture, which unfortunately cannot be grasped, making ～んですか’s use sound unnecessarily obtuse.
14a. 友子、すぐ出かけようとするんですか。X
14b. 友子、すぐ出かけようとしていますか。〇
Intended: Is she trying to leave immediately?
14a. Is she to immediately be about to leave? X
14b. Is she trying/aiming to leave immediately?
In the following examples, in addition to the typical translation of the pattern as “try to…,” other clearer alternatives are provided so that you may get a better sense at what is exactly the agent(s) are doing.
15. 蟻が自分よりも大きな食べ物を巣の方へ運ぼうとしていますよ。
The ants are trying/attempting to carry food that is larger than themselves to their hill.
16. 大学院に進むため、留学しようとしていたんです。
I was trying/aiming to go abroad to get into graduate school.
17. 僕は氷が張るくらい寒いところにある川に氷の裂け目から落ちてしまった犬を助けようとしたのです。
I tried/aimed to save a dog that had fallen from an ice crack into a river in an area that was cold with ice.
Non-First Person Volition
Excluding personification, narration, and similar literary devices in which non-first person volition is ascertainable without inference, making such statements are deemed unnatural in Japanese discourse. This principle also applies to ～（よ）うとする, as it fundamentally pertains to volition being executed.
18. 日が昇り、男の顔を照らそうとする。男は目を覚まし、起き上がろうとする。そのとき、鋭く刺すような胸の痛みを感じた。まぶしい。男は太陽が怖かった。何とかして歩こうとする赤ちゃんの姿が、微笑ましかった。
The sun rose and shined on the man’s face. The man opened his eyes and tried to get up. Then, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He was dizzy. The man was afraid of the sun. For some reason the figure of his baby trying to walk was pleasing.
In Ex. 18, there are three instances of third-person statements of volition utilizing ～（よ）うとする, but because it is clearly narration, the author has control over the thoughts and actions of the characters, thus not violating the aforementioned principle.
19. どうして、わざわざ、そんなところへ行こうとするんだ！？やめとけ。
Why are you trying to take the efforts to go to such a place!? Quit it.
Asking about the volition of someone else does not violate the notion of affirmatively stating their volition. You are confirming it. Thus, second-person volition in question format is valid for this structure.
No Overt Agent ⇒ Foreboding Event
When ～（よ）うとする is used with verbs of non-volition, it instead, shows foreboding of a situation, as if there were an active agent at play. This is often figuratively employed with natural phenomenon.
20. 稲妻が走って、雷が鳴り、今にも雨が降り出そうとしていたんだよ。
Lightning was striking, thunder was roaring, and it was going to rain at any moment.
In the case of Ex. 21, the passive form of 食う (to eat) is used in combination with ～（よ）うとする. While the alligator is an agent, the passivization process causes the phrase to sound more like an imminent reality. In other words, while we know the alligator is very eager about eating the guy, that is not what is being focused on, as the attention is on the guy’s actions throughout this harrowing time.
21. ワニに食われようとして、目が覚めたが、恐怖のあまり、身が強張っていた。
About to be eaten by an alligator, his eyes opened, but his body was rigid out of fear.
- The unsimplified iteration of the chain of conjugation when the embedded clause contains ～ない is: Verb未然形 + ない連体形 + ようにする. ↩︎
- The realization of the /o/-ending 未然形 with the volitional auxiliary ～う due to sound change /a.u/ → /o:/ is why 五段 verbs are named as such – all five vowels are represented in their bases. ↩︎
- The sound changes which led to しよう, and thus an irregular 未然形 of する are as follows: せむ → せん → せう → しよう. It is worth noting that at the stage in which せう would have been written down, /se/ was rendered as [she] in many dialects. As such, if /e.u/ already triggered the sound change /ɔː/ before eventually becoming /o:/, an intermediary not captured well by the kana syllabary, せう → しよう is not as big of a jump as it might seem. ↩︎