I find the use of the volitional form here: "今人が乗ろうとしている" interesting. Why use the volitional instead "乗ろう" instead of just "乗る"? What is the nuance being communicated?
Hi I Mah, thanks for this great question. I think here it's better to understand volitional form+とする+ところ as one set. The volitional form +とする means something like "to attempt to" or "to be about to". The ところ adds a nuance of "right at that moment". So here, it means something along the lines of "right at that moment, as I left the station, someone was in the process of getting in the last rickshaw".
A very enlightening explanation to a grammar construction I was unfamiliar with. Thank you very much for both this and the newsletter in general, Bunsuke
I find the use of the volitional form here: "今人が乗ろうとしている" interesting. Why use the volitional instead "乗ろう" instead of just "乗る"? What is the nuance being communicated?
Hi I Mah, thanks for this great question. I think here it's better to understand volitional form+とする+ところ as one set. The volitional form +とする means something like "to attempt to" or "to be about to". The ところ adds a nuance of "right at that moment". So here, it means something along the lines of "right at that moment, as I left the station, someone was in the process of getting in the last rickshaw".
A very enlightening explanation to a grammar construction I was unfamiliar with. Thank you very much for both this and the newsletter in general, Bunsuke
You're very welcome, really glad you're enjoying the newsletter.