Past & Experience Lesson 6
Mastering the たり〜たり (tari-tari) construction to list representative actions and experiences.
Weekend Plans
When someone asks you what you did over the weekend, you rarely do just one thing. You might have gone shopping, watched a movie, or cleaned your room. In Japanese, if you want to list a few examples of what you did without implying that it was an exhaustive list, you use a specific structure.
The たり〜たり Structure
The たり (tari) form is used to list actions. It implies that these are just some examples of what happened, not a complete list.
Tip
Examples
Here are common ways to use the たり〜たり structure in daily conversation.
週末は本を読んだり、映画を見たりしました。
On the weekend, I read books, watched movies, and so on.
Choose the correct completion: 昨日は買い物に行ったり、料理を___。
- ✓ 作ったりしました
- 作ります
- 作った
- 作ったり
The structure requires the final verb to be in the correct tense and politeness level, usually ending with します or した.
Nuance and Usage
The たり〜たり form is specifically for representative actions. It suggests that there might have been other things you did, but you are only mentioning these as examples.
List vs. Sequence
〜て、〜て
Sequential order (first A, then B)
食べて、寝ました
〜たり、〜たり
Representative list (A, B, etc.)
食べたり、寝たりしました
Which sentence implies a specific sequence of events?
- 本を読んだり、映画を見たりしました
- ✓ 本を読んで、映画を見ました
The 'te-form' (読んで) indicates a sequence, whereas 'tari' indicates a non-sequential list of examples.
Advanced Usage
You can also use たり〜たり with adjectives or even nouns in more advanced contexts.
Using with Adjectives
Summary
The たり〜たり form is an essential tool for listing representative actions. By taking the past 'た-form' of a verb and adding 'り', you can create natural-sounding lists of activities without needing to be exhaustive.