In the short story 「悪魔」by 星新一 , a man walks onto a frozen lake to go ice
fishing, carves out a small hole in the ice, and throws in the line. But after
throwing in the line, there's a 文型 I've never encountered, and I can't find an
explanation for it online or in any of my many grammar and 文型 dictionaries.
The sentence goes 「そこから糸をたらして、 **魚を釣ろうというのだった** 。」Could somebody please help
me understand the meaning of volitional + というのだった or volitional + というのだ？ When
I search for examples of this online, most often the expression goes 「xx を
**もらおう** というのだ。」

Thank you for your help.
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2015-04-29T20:17:28.493
24025
2015-04-30T14:57:33.963
9972
question
grammar translation meaning syntax volitional-form
Volitional + というのだった?
It means "he meant to dip the string through that hole and fish".

When the subject is 2nd or 3rd person, という **の** だ or ということだ work. Otherwise,
it has to be という **こと** だ only, i.e. you can't use というのだ for "I mean"(*) or
"it means".

(* Accurately, というのだ for "I mean" still works when you express your own action
through other person's perspective.)
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-30T14:57:33.963
24040
2015-04-30T14:57:33.963
4092
24025
answer