Past & Experience Lesson 4
Master the たり〜たり construction to describe representative actions and summarize experiences.
What did you do this weekend?
When someone asks about your weekend, you rarely do just one thing. You might go shopping, eat at a cafe, and watch a movie. In Japanese, listing every single action with 'and' (〜て, 〜て) can sound repetitive.
The たり〜たり construction
The たり〜たり form is used to list representative actions. It implies that you did these things, among others, and doesn't necessarily mean the actions happened in that specific order.
Tip
Seeing it in action
Here are examples of how to use this pattern to describe your activities.
日曜日は本を読んだり、映画を見たりしました。
On Sunday, I read books, watched movies, and did other things.
昨日は買い物【をしたり】、掃除【をしたり】しました。
Hint: You need to turn the nouns into verbs using 'suru' before adding 'tari'.
Yesterday, I did things like shopping and cleaning.
Nuance and Usage
The たり〜たり form is specifically for actions. Do not use it to list nouns.
Actions vs Nouns
〜たり〜たり
Used for verbs/actions.
食べたり飲んだり
〜や〜など
Used for nouns.
リンゴやバナナなど
Which sentence is grammatically correct?
- 本たり、映画たりしました。
- ✓ 本を読んだり、映画を見たりしました。
たり〜たり is for verbs. You must use the verb form (e.g., 読んだり) rather than just the noun.
Advanced usage
You can also use this for states or adjectives.
Using with adjectives
Lesson Summary
The たり〜たり construction is an essential tool for describing a variety of activities without listing every single detail. It makes your Japanese sound more natural and descriptive.