彼は学校でいい成績をとろうとしていた。

he; him; his; boyfriend

topic marker particle; indicates contrast with another option (stated or unstated); adds emphasis

school

indicates location of action; at; in; indicates time of action; indicates means of action; cause of effect; by; and then; so; indicates continuing action; indicates certainty, emphasis, etc.

good; excellent; fine; nice; pleasant; agreeable; sufficient (can be used to turn down an offer); ready; prepared; profitable (e.g. deal, business offer, etc.); beneficial; OK

results; record; grades; marks

indicates direct object of action; indicates subject of causative expression; indicates an area traversed; indicates time (period) over which action takes place; indicates point of departure or separation of action; indicates object of desire, like, hate, etc.

to harvest (a crop)

if; when; and; with; particle used for quoting (with speech, thoughts, etc.); quoting particle; promoted pawn; indicates question (sentence end)

to do; to cause to become; to make (into); to turn (into); to serve as; to act as; to work as; to wear (clothes, a facial expression, etc.); to judge as being; to view as being; to think of as; to treat as; to use as; to decide on; to choose; to be sensed (of a smell, noise, etc.); to be (in a state, condition, etc.); to be worth; to cost; to pass (of time); to elapse; verbalizing suffix (applies to nouns noted in this dictionary with the part of speech "vs"); creates a humble verb (after a noun prefixed with "o" or "go"); to be just about to; to be just starting to; to try to; to attempt to