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I am trying to translate the following small text (taken from a VN):

> _もうこんなことはやめようか――_
>
> 心配そうな眼差しは、まるで **そう言っているようだった** 。

So far my attempts have led me to this:

> It was as though his worrying gaze **seemed to be telling** _maybe we should
> give it up_

The thing that seems to prevent me from fully understanding this text is the
volitional part: [よう] after [ている]. For some reason, it just seems unnecessary
to me, so what function does it have?

I am also aware of the abstract meaning of 「そう言う」(sometimes: [そういう] ) meaning
"That kind of ..." but I was unsure whether it is the same 「そう言う」 since I have
never seen it being used in て-form, let alone「～ている」. Therefore I translated it
by intuition instead.

My question: is my translation correct with respect to 「ーているよう」 at the end of
「そう言う」?

Any corrections and comments are very much appreciated!
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-23T23:24:08.470
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2014-08-24T04:00:26.563
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
-1
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question
grammar translation syntax volitional-form
Need Help Understanding ーているよう
よう(だ) in this sentence is used to express inference based on reliable
information (often based on what the speaker sees) or similarity. It is not
the volitional form of a verb. You can translate it as "look like", "look as
if", "seem", "be like", etc. It is often used with まるで which gives it more
emphatic meaning " _just_ like", " _exactly_ as if".

A verb can stand before this よう. It can be in progressive form and in this
sentence I guess it means that the action is happening now. 言っている in this
sentence is just the progressive form of the verb 言う, it's not used in
auxiliary sense as in そういう.

そう refers to the thought cited in the previous sentence (もうこんなことはやめようか).

All together, your translation gets the meaning across. Tim's translation from
the comment is closer to the structure of the Japanese sentence and I'll quote
it in here:

> "We've had enough, let's give up." His worried look seemed to say exactly
> that.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-24T03:33:29.823
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2014-08-24T04:00:26.563
2014-08-24T04:00:26.563
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answer