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  1. 電車に乗ろうとしたときにドアが閉まって乗れなかった。

  2. 電車に乗ろうというときにドアが閉まって乗れなかった。

  3. ちょうど彼が出かけようとしたときに大地震があった。

  4. ちょうど彼が出かけようというときに大地震があった。

Hi. I have found some sample sentences on the internet. Are all the above sentences fine? If so, can I think 〜ようというときに and 〜ようとしたときに are usually interchangeable, if not always?

And could you show me the occasions where the two patterns are not interchangeable?

And generally what would be the difference between 〜ようというときに and 〜ようとしたときに? Thank you.

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～うというとき tends to refer to a little earlier timing than ～うとしたとき.

～うとしたとき means the subject has already started to take that action. 出かけようとしたとき usually means he has stood up and started to go to the door at least. On the other hand, ～というとき means the subject thought he should start that action. 出かけようというとき basically refers to the time point where he thought "Okay I have to go now", maybe still holding a coffee cup. That said, this distinction is largely subjective, and it's impossible to draw a clear line. One may say 出かけようとした just by thinking "I have to go now".

Among your example sentences, 1, 3, and 4 are perfectly natural, but 2 looks slightly off to me because 電車に乗ろうというとき probably means this person has not even started to walk.

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