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食べないようとする

食べようとしない

Both the sentence above means "I will try not to eat". What's the difference

Newbie
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    Just to confirm, you definitely meant to type 食べないよう**に**する rather than 食べないよう**と**する, right? – user3856370 Apr 18 '20 at 10:09
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    There is nothing wrong with たべないようにする. –  Apr 18 '20 at 10:54
  • @Ben I didn't say there was anything wrong with たべないようにす. But it doesn't mean 'try', and it was different from his second example so I just wanted the OP to clarify/confirm his intention. – user3856370 Apr 18 '20 at 11:58
  • @user3856370, can you explain why 〜しないようにする doesn't mean 'try (not to 〜)'? – jarmanso7 Apr 18 '20 at 14:43
  • 「たべないよう**と**する」 is incorrect and makes no sense. – Chocolate Apr 18 '20 at 15:12
  • @Chocolate Clearly I'm confused. My understanding of ようにする is "will make sure to ...". To me this is a stronger statement than "will try to ...". The latter allows the possibility of failure. The former does not. Am I right about this? You say that ...ないようとする is incorrect, so how would you express "try not to ..." rather than "make sure not to ..."? I hope my question makes sense. – user3856370 Apr 18 '20 at 15:24
  • ^ Try not to.. は 「まいとする」ですかね・・ – Chocolate Apr 18 '20 at 15:32
  • @Chocolate Thanks. I thought that まいとする was rather formal sounding though, isn't it? – user3856370 Apr 18 '20 at 15:33
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    ^ そうですね。「しないよう**に**する」でもいいですね。 – Chocolate Apr 18 '20 at 15:59
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    Related? https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/33068/9831 – Chocolate Apr 18 '20 at 16:06

2 Answers2

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食べないようにする

The ように is the auxiliary (比況・例示・推定の助動詞)「[様]{よう}だ」.
It follows the attributive form (連体形) of a verb. It can conjugate to ように, ような, etc. but not to ようと.

食べようとしない

The よう is the volitional auxiliary (意志の助動詞)「う・よう」.
It follows the imperfective form (未然形) of a verb, and is followed by ～と(する).

Compare:

The ように is the 比況・例示・推定 auxiliary [様]{よう}だ in:
「連体形+ようにする」(make sure... / make an effort so that...)
「ない+ようにする」(make sure... not / make an effort so that... won't)
vs
The よう is the volitional auxiliary う・よう in:
「未然形+ようとする」(try to do)
「未然形+ようとしない」(don't try to do)

So...
食べないようにする means "make sure that I don't eat" "try not to eat".
(cf. 食べるようにする means "make sure that I eat" "try to eat")
食べようとしない means "don't try to eat" "won't eat".
(cf. 食べようとする means "try to eat")

Example:

「最近太ったので、脂っこいものは食べないようにしています。」
(I've gained weight recently, so I'm trying not to eat / I've been avoiding fatty food.)
「好物のどらやきを出しても、食べようとしないんです。病気じゃないでしょうか。」
(I offered him his favorite Dorayaki, but he didn't try to eat it / he wouldn't eat it. I'm wondering if he's ill.)

For "try not to do", we also have ～まいとする, eg 食べまいとする.

「食べないようとする」「～ないようとする」 are grammatically incorrect.
(「～ない+よう+と」「連体形+よう+と」「食べるようと」 are incorrect.)

Related:

Chocolate
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食べないようにする

This is OK for saying something like "I try not to eat (something)"

カロリーの高いものを食べないようにしている

"I try not to eat things which have a lot of calories"

食べようとしない

Both the sentence above means "I will try not to eat". What's the difference

たべようとしない means more like "I will not (even) attempt to eat (something)". Like

納豆なんかは食べようとしない = I don't even bother trying to eat natto.

Community
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  • Can I take it that the proper way to say "I will try not to eat" is either 食べないようとする or 食べないようにする　? – Newbie Apr 18 '20 at 13:46
  • I've done what I can to answer the first part of the question too. –  Apr 18 '20 at 13:51
  • 食べようとしない doesn't mean 'I'll try not to eat.' It means the way "it seems he/she doesn't try to eat." 私は食べようとしない is grammatically wrong. –  Apr 25 '20 at 23:09
  • ^ But 食べようとしない can mean "**I** try not to eat", no? 「私が食べようとしないので、お母さんが捨ててしまった。」とか。 – Chocolate Apr 26 '20 at 02:12
  • その場合も、判断しているのは自分ではないのでは？ My mother thinks that I am not going to eat the dish and she put it into trash. ×私は〜しようとしない (するの重複)　○私は〜しないようにする　△(穴馬)　私は〜しようとする –  Apr 26 '20 at 05:57
  • 文学的に『私』を主人公に見立てている場合、あるいは過去の自分を振り返っては、成り立ちますね　それは仰る通りだ　しかし、日常会話ではちょっとヤバい感じがします –  Apr 26 '20 at 06:08