I don't personally use the word "trying" here, but maybe it's just my personal preference. What is for certain is you can't use "like" here. The rules: seems+adj He seems nice seems like+ (adj) noun He seems like a nice person

I have been using this for as long as I remember. It is very common. "ish" describes that the word it is attached to is not exact in meaning, or only close in meaning . It is informal and colloquial speech. 9-ish = "around 9" (8:57, 9:05, etc.) "I'll be there around 9-ish" Yellow-ish color = a color that looks close to yellow, but is not exactly "yellow". Maybe if something is mainly white but has just a little yellow in it, you can say it looks "yellow-ish". Boyfriendish: this may mean that someone acts like a boyfriend to someone, even though he is not their boyfriend. ex: "He isn't my boyfriend, but he still acts kinda boyfriendish to me..." Something like that, but I'm not entirely sure about this example... You can also take note of the "-y" suffix if you haven't already. It is kind of similar. One usage is with smells and tastes, such as fish and fishy, garlic and garlicky,... ex. "The salmon might be fresh, but it has a really fishy smell to it yet.", "The pasta sauce has a really garlicky scent to it.", "This sundae is really chocolaty and peanut buttery. Also, there is girl and girly, but you can't say "boy-y". ex: "Your son looks too girly in that outfit." Another example I remember is from a video called "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared 4". The characters go into a computer and one says, "Wow, we're all computery!" he says it at 2:37 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9FGgwCQ22w (Be careful, this video is VERY weird and some of the other English isn't good for learning...)