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I've come across this sentence:

> 脅かそうとしてたのか？

First, I'd like to verify that おどかそう here is the volitional form and not
something like [そう](https://jisho.org/word/%E3%81%9D%E3%81%86).

If that is indeed the case, then I've been wondering how the sentence would
change (if at all) if it used 脅かす instead of 脅かそう.

For context (Spoilers for それでも歩は寄せてくる chapter 39):

> [![enter image description
> here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/QNAP5.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/QNAP5.jpg)

How does the emphasis or nuances of the sentence change if it was written as:

> 脅かすとしてたのか？
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2023-07-04T19:04:39.837
100169
2023-07-05T01:43:05.717
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question
volitional-form
The emphasis of using the volitional form
脅かそう is indeed the volitional form of 脅かす. If "to try/attempt to surprise
(me)" is the intended meaning, you **must** use a volitional form before とする.
Always.

  * [JLPT N3 Grammar ようとする (you to suru)](https://jlptsensei.com/learn-japanese-grammar/%E3%82%88%E3%81%86%E3%81%A8%E3%81%99%E3%82%8B-you-to-suru-meaning/)

脅かすとする is totally different. It's an uncommon, colloquial version of 脅かすことにする
meaning "to decide to surprise". For this usage, see: [What does verb+とする
mean?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/34137/5010) This pattern is seldom
used in the past tense, and "Was this because she had already made a decision
to surprise me?" makes no sense in this context, anyway.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-05T01:34:36.990
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2023-07-05T01:43:05.717
2023-07-05T01:43:05.717
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answer