To shite iru

Hi there,

I was covering intention with my teacher, and we hit upon a phrase she was not able to translate, and so I have come to this forum for help.

We started with the 'you' ending, e.g. 'Watashi wa nomou' to state intention. After that, we hit this sentence (which is where we had the trouble):

Kare wa kodomotachi wo kyoushi ni shiyou to shite iru.

Now apparently this is about a guy who intends to make his children into teachers. But my question was this - we already covered intention with the 'you' ending above. Why is this further part (to shite iru) needed to convey someone else's intentions? Is this part only added when speaking of someone else's intentions? Is the 'to shite iru' really anything to do with an example for intentions at all?

Thanks for your time, and I hope my question was clear.

Volitional by itself indicates will/intent (depending on context can be invitation or suggestion). Adding とする makes it about the action - the attempt to carry out that intent.

E.g. it isn't just intent, he has taken some action towards making his children become teachers.

Note: past tense of this form is often used to talk about failed attempts to do something.

The volitional form "~you" without "to suru/to shiteiru" can be used only for the speaker's intention, similar to "~tai". When being used for other's, it expresses the speaker's presumption as same as "~darou".

Kare wa kodomotachi wo kyoushi ni shiyou. = Kare wa kodomotachi wo kyoushi ni surudarou.