たりしてmaybe … or something
At the end of a sentence, たりして floats a possibility with a half-smile: "what if…", "maybe … or something". You aren't claiming it is so, and you say it lightly, often as a joke.
Tanaka still isn't here. Maybe he got on the wrong train or something.
Who knows, we might even win tomorrow's game.
How to form it
Verb た-form + りして
行った → 行ったりして, 読んだ → 読んだりして. Adjectives and nouns work the same way: 安かったりして, 休みだったりして. A guess about how things are right now often has ている inside, shortened to てたり: 寝てたりして. The sentence stops there, or adds ね.
- Before it
- Something that might be so or might happen: often unlikely, funny or a little worrying.
- Said to
- Friends, family, people you joke with. It has no polite form.
- Where you'll meet it
- Conversation, text messages, manga. もしかして often comes in front.
In use
What if she turns up at the venue as a surprise?
You don't suppose they're closed today?
Outside a shop with its lights off. A small worry, said lightly.
What if Sato has already gone home?
Two things to know
It floats an idea, too
With something you could do, it floats the idea without quite suggesting it: "what if I just…". You can always say you were joking.
Maybe I'll knock off work a bit early today…
For a change, maybe I'll try getting off at a station I don't know…
Only at the end of a sentence
In the middle of a sentence, たりして is ordinary たり, "doing things like". The half-joke is the one that stops.
We got lost in the mountains, among other things, and were late getting back.
The sentence goes on: one of the things that happened.
What if we get lost in the mountains tomorrow?
The sentence stops: a half-joking guess.
Close neighbours
かもしれないN4
A real "maybe", with no joke in it. Fine with a boss or a customer, and for anything serious.
Yamada may have left ahead of us.
たり～たりするN5
The ordinary list of examples: things you do, closed with する.
On my days off, I do things like read and watch films.
とかN4
For a real suggestion in casual talk: "how about … or something?"
How about going to a café or something this weekend?
Check yourself
1Which sentence is a half-joking guess?
Choose an answer to see why.
2Your manager may be late, and you have to tell a customer. Which fits?
Choose an answer to see why.
More sentences
Imagine if I won first prize in tomorrow's draw.
It might even snow tomorrow, you never know.
This place might turn out to be cheap, you never know.