Toan (V)

Situations

S: Nam and Tân argued. Nam was very angry and raised his hand to hit Tân, but ultimately stopped himself.

Lúc cãi nhau, Nam toan đánh Tân.
(While arguing, Nam intended to hit Tân.)

Nam intended to hit Tân in the heat of the moment but did not carry it out.

Definition

Toan, as a verb, expresses the subject's intent to carry out a certain action immediately, though the intention is ultimately not carried out.

Related Expressions

• toan, suýt, sắp: These words have similar meanings, but toan is a verb while suýt and sắp are adverbs.
• Toan only goes with intentional verbs.

Hồi sáng, tôi suýt / *toan bị tai nạn.
(This morning, I almost had an accident.)

Toan cannot be used in the sentence above because having an accident is unintentional. Cf. sắp (p. 339), suýt (p. 349).