What does 「そう」mean in this sentence? 「ねっ 私の手を引き剥がそうと しないでほしいです」


This line comes from episode two of Konosuba

> ねっ 私の手を引き剥がそうとしないでほしいです

From my understanding of 「そう」, its a verb form for something might happen. For
example, 「あの木、倒れそうだよ」would mean "That tree is going to/looks like it's going
to fall down." I'm pretty sure the sentence is saying something along the
lines of "I wish you wouldn't try to rip my hand away" but I'm not totally
sure.

What does 「そう」mean in this sentence? When I try to parse this sentence in that
way though, it doesn't really make sense to me, but maybe it's correct?




Your sentence doesn't have そう. 剥がそう is the volitional-form (aka う/よう-form) of
剥がす. 剥がそう might look like a そう-form because 剥がす happens to end with an S, but
remember that そう meaning "looks like" attaches to a masu-stem. Compare:

  * **剥がしそう** : (masu-stem + そう) looks like someone rips; someone is going to rip
  * **剥がすそう** : (dictionary-form + そう) I heard someone rips; it is said that someone rips
  * **剥がそう** : (volitional form) let's rip; try to rip

`-う + とする` is a common construction. See the link in the comment section.




Your sentence doesn't have そう. 剥がそう is the volitional-form (aka う/よう-form) of
剥がす. 剥がそう might look like a そう-form because 剥がす happens to end with an S, but
remember that そう meaning "looks like" attaches to a masu-stem. Compare:

  * **剥がしそう** : (masu-stem + そう) looks like someone rips; someone is going to rip
  * **剥がすそう** : (dictionary-form + そう) I heard someone rips; it is said that someone rips
  * **剥がそう** : (volitional form) let's rip; try to rip

`-う + とする` is a common construction. See the link in the comment section.

