Listing actions with たり～たりする

～たり～たりする ~ tari ~ tari suru Do things such as A and B

たり～たりする (tari tari suru) lists a few actions as examples: I read, watch TV, that kind of thing. The list is not complete.

Level: JLPT N5, beginner
Type: Verb forms
English links: lists with and, past simple, gerunds, parallel structure

What it means

Use たり to give some examples of what you do, not a full list. 週末は本を読んだり、テレビを見たりします means "At the weekend I do things like reading and watching TV." There may be other things too.

To make it, take the casual past form, the た form (読んだ, 見た), and add り. After the last item, add する. する carries the tense and the politeness: します, しました.

The order of the items has no meaning. That is the difference from the て-form, which puts actions in time order. たり also works for things that go back and forth: 行ったり来たりする, to go back and forth.

How to build it

Pattern	How it works
読みます → 読んだ → 読んだり yomimasu → yonda → yondari	Make the た form, then add り.
見ます → 見た → 見たり mimasu → mita → mitari	For verbs like 見る and 食べる: drop ます, add たり.
します → したり / 来ます → 来たり shimasu → shitari / kimasu → kitari	The two irregular verbs.
A たり、B たり + します A tari, B tari + shimasu	The list always ends with する. Its form shows the tense: しました for the past.

Examples

週末は本を読んだり、テレビを見たりします。 shuumatsu wa hon o yondari, terebi o mitari shimasu. At the weekend I read books, watch TV, that kind of thing.
昨日は友達と話したり、ゲームをしたりしました。 kinou wa tomodachi to hanashitari, geemu o shitari shimashita. Yesterday I chatted with friends, played games and so on.
休み時間に生徒たちは歌ったり、踊ったりしています。 yasumi jikan ni seitotachi wa utattari, odottari shite imasu. At break time the students are singing and dancing.
夏休みに泳いだり、山に登ったりしたいです。 natsuyasumi ni oyoidari, yama ni nobottari shitai desu. In the summer holidays I want to swim, climb mountains, things like that.
先生は教室の前を行ったり来たりしています。 sensei wa kyoushitsu no mae o ittari kitari shite imasu. The teacher is walking back and forth at the front of the classroom.

How English says it

English lists actions with "and": "I read books and watch TV." To show the list is not complete, add "things like", "and so on", or "and stuff" in casual talk: "At the weekend I do things like reading and watching TV."

Every verb in the list takes the same tense: "Yesterday I chatted and played games." Japanese marks the tense once, at the end, on する. English marks it on every verb.

For back and forth, English has fixed pairs: "back and forth", "up and down", "on and off".

Why it can make English hard

The tense comes only at the end in Japanese, so students may put the past on one verb and not the other: "Yesterday I watched TV and play games."
"Things like" needs the -ing form: "things like reading". Some students write "things like read".
Many textbooks give "and so on" as the match for たり. Students then add it to every list, even a one-item list, where it sounds odd in English.

Mistakes you will hear

Yesterday I watched TV and play games. Yesterday I watched TV and played games. Every verb in the list needs the past tense, not only the first.
On weekends I do things like read and swim. On weekends I do things like reading and swimming. After "things like", use the -ing form.
On Sunday I cleaned my room and so on. On Sunday I cleaned my room and did a few other things. A one-item たり is fine in Japanese. In English, "and so on" after one item sounds odd.

In the classroom

Weekend chat: students tell a partner two or three things they did. The partner reports back to the class: "She watched a film and went shopping." Check every verb for the past.
Write a て-form sentence and a たり sentence on the board. Ask which one fits English "then". Only the て-form one, because たり has no order.
Teach a few natural endings for open lists: "and stuff like that" for speaking, "and so on" for writing. Let students pick one of each.

Practice

Try each one, then open it to check.

1. Fill the gaps: 日曜日は買い物をし＿＿、映画を見＿＿します。

Answer: たり, たり (買い物をしたり、映画を見たりします。)

Each action takes たり, and the list ends with します.
2. Translate: 昨日は掃除をしたり、洗濯をしたりしました。

Answer: Yesterday I did things like cleaning and laundry. (or: Yesterday I cleaned and did the laundry.)

しました at the end makes the whole list past. In English each verb shows the past.
3. A student writes "Last week I went to Osaka and eat takoyaki." Fix it.

Answer: Last week I went to Osaka and ate takoyaki.

Both verbs need the past tense.
4. You want to say "I got up, then I ate breakfast", in that order. Use て or たり?

Answer: て: 起きて、朝ご飯を食べました。

たり gives examples in no set order. The て-form puts actions in time order.