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たりする (tari suru) Meaning Japanese Grammar - Do Such Things as A, B Etc

Author GokuGoku for article 'たりする (tari suru) Meaning Japanese Grammar - Do Such Things as A, B Etc'

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たり~する (tari~suru) is a conjugation expressing a list of actions in no particular order.

Its usage is similar to the て form , since like て it is used to list a succession of actions in a sentence.

The difference with て is that たり does not imply a detemined order, but simply express a series of actions in a random order (I did things like... and... and... etc.).

In this structure the last たり in the sentence is followed by the verb する (to do):

Verb[た]++...たり...+する
い Adjective without[い]+かった++する
な Adjective without[な]+だった++する
Noun+だった++する

たり used singularly

When たり is used only once in the sentence it means doing the indicated action and implies that other actions have been done, but are not intentionally indicated (I did things like ...).

そこの(いけ)(およ)いだりした。

I did things like swimming in that pond.

Sentences in the negative and past tense with たり

To conjugate たり in the negative and past tense just conjugate the last verb する:

  • しない (Past negative ofする)
  • した (Past affermative of する)

(えい)()()たり、(ほん)()んだりしない。

They do not watch films or read books.

As we can see in this example, by conjugating する to the negative (しない) the whole sentence with たり takes on the negative meaning (I don't do things like ...).

Example of たり

(えい)()()たり、(ほん)()んだり、(ひる)()したりする。

I watch films, read books and take naps.’

Let us break down this sentence to understand its meaning:

  • ()たり: ()る means see, and here it is conjugated in the form in た (見る -> 見 -> 見た) and added り
  • ()んだり: ()む means read, and here is conjugated in the form in た (読む -> 読~~む~ -> 読んだ) and added り
  • したりする: したり is the form in た (past tense) of the verb する (to do) +り + the last する according to this structure.

アルバイトでは、(りょう)()(つく)ったり、お(さら)(あら)ったりします。

In my part-time job I do things like cooking and washing dishes.

(さい)(きん)(てん)()(あつ)かったり、(さむ)かったりします。

The weather is hot and cold lately.