たり～たりするdo things like A and B
You name one or two things as examples and leave the rest unsaid: "I do things like read and go for walks." The order doesn't matter.
On my days off, I do things like walk in the park and read at a café.
Yesterday, I did things like listen to music and read a book.
Verbs
た-form + り, た-form + り + する
見た → 見たり, 読んだ → 読んだり, した → したり. The する at the end shows the time: します, しました, しています.
Adjectives and nouns
〜かったり ・ 〜だったり
寒い → 寒かったり, 暇 → 暇だったり, 雨 → 雨だったり
What did you do?
This is the usual way to answer "what do you do on weekends?" or "what did you do on vacation?". You give a sample, and people understand there was more.
What did you do over summer vacation?
I swam in the sea, climbed mountains, that kind of thing.
The た isn't the past
見たり looks like the past, but it has no time of its own. Only the する at the end shows when.
On Sundays I clean, go shopping, and so on.
します: what you usually do.
On Sunday I cleaned, went shopping, and so on.
しました: what you did.
する can take any ending, such as たい.
In Japan I want to see temples, eat sushi, things like that.
Every verb takes たり
Each verb in the list gets たり, the last one too, and する closes the list.
Sounds odd: 昨日は
Yesterday I watched a movie, read a book, and so on.
You will hear this, but in writing and on tests it counts as a mistake. It should end 読んだりしました.
Examples, or the whole story?
Yesterday I went shopping and then saw a movie.
The て-form: these two things, in this order.
Yesterday I went shopping, saw a movie, that sort of thing.
たり: two examples, in no order. There may have been more.
Back and forth, on and off
With two opposites, たり means things keep switching between them.
It has been raining on and off today.
I walked back and forth in front of the station.
Some days I eat breakfast and some days I don't.
With adjectives and nouns
In the mountains it can be warm, cold, rainy, and so on.
Just one たり
One たり alone is fine. It names one thing as an example of the kind of thing you do.
After dinner, I sometimes do things like listen to music.
Close neighbours
やN5
The same idea for nouns: a couple of examples from a longer list.
There are dictionaries, maps and other things on the shelf.
とか～とかN4
A casual way to give examples. It goes straight after nouns as well as verbs.
When I travel, I spend my time doing things like looking at the sea and walking through old towns.
たりしてN4
At the end of a sentence, a half-joking guess: "maybe … or something".
Who knows, we might even win tomorrow's game.
Check yourself
1What is this about?
週末は、
Choose an answer to see why.
2Which is true?
昨日は、
Choose an answer to see why.
3Which one fits?
休みの
Choose an answer to see why.
More sentences
On weekends, I do things like cook and go out with friends.
The children were doing things like running around and playing with a ball.
On weekends, I do things like clean the garden and bake bread.
Meetings may be online, in person, or in another format.