Tari Tari Suru: Give Examples of Activities

たり lists representative actions rather than promising a complete list or a fixed order. It is useful for describing a weekend or giving examples of what you do. The final する changes for tense and politeness.

Formation and use

Build each item from the た form and add り: 読んだ→読んだり, 食べた→食べたり, した→したり. A voiced だ stays voiced: 飲んだり.

Finish a basic activity list with する or a conjugated form such as します・しました. The た inside たり does not itself make the whole sentence past. 毎週末、読んだりします describes a habit.

Comparisons and common errors

Two listed actions need not occur in the order mentioned. For a required sequence, use てから. For a straightforward connection, て may be enough. Choose according to what you need the listener to understand.

A single たり item is also possible when it is offered as one example. This lesson practises two-item lists so that the representative-list meaning stays visible.

Practise with explanations

Try the 10 questions below, or open the practice set. Check each answer or the whole set, read the explanation, and retry mistakes. First-attempt results are kept separately on this device.

Connected lessons

• Japanese Ta Form: Plain Past Conjugation
• Te Kara: Do One Action Before the Next
• Japanese Masu Form: Polite Present, Negative, and Past