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「感謝のしようもありません。」
The sentence translates as "I can't thank you enough".
I read on the forums that 「しよう」 is a casual volitional form of 「する」.
Does that mean it's an even more casual form of 「したい」?
How would you literally translate this? My attempt would look like this:
"Even the feelings that I want to feel don't exist (or aren't). "
Sounds pretty intense to me already. How close was that?
What are other ways to use 「しよう」?
Can you say 「これをしよう」 for "I want that"?
The しよう is not the volitional form of する, but "a way of doing~~" (=「し[様]{よう}」).
感謝のしようもありません。
lit. There's no way of thanking.
→ I can't thank you enough.
By the way, volitional しよう is pronounced [しよう]{LHL} and し様, [しよう]{LHH}.
The [様]{よう}, attached to the continuative form (連用形) of a verb, can mean "a way of (doing~~)" (≂ [方法]{ほうほう}). A few examples from プログレッシブ和英中辞典:
この時計は[直]{なお}し[様]{よう}がない。 This watch cannot be repaired.
これだけでは[考]{かんが}え[様]{よう}がない。 We can't consider it without more information.
[手]{て}の[下]{くだ}し[様]{よう}がなかった。 There was nothing to be done about it.
Can you say 「これをしよう」 for "I want that"?
「これをしよう」 would be interpreted as "I'll do this." or "Let's do this."
You could say 「あれがほしい」 to mean "I want that."
