LEARN + JAPANESE / Note 125 JLPT N4
Doing This and That (〜たり〜たりする)
たり attaches to a verb’s past た-form, and used twice with する at the end, たり〜たりする lists a few representative activities without claiming they’re the complete list or that they happened in that exact order.
On weekends I often do things like hang out with friends and eat together.
While studying abroad, we often did things like memorize kanji and write reports, didn't we?
In Real Life
Compare this to て, which links actions in a fixed sequence, and し, which stacks up reasons. たり〜たりする deliberately loosens both, “things like this and that,” implying a fuller, messier reality behind just the two examples given.
Every day I do things like swim and run.
To go back and forth.
In Real Life
行ったり来たりする is a set phrase built on this same pattern, “to go back and forth,” using two opposite verbs to describe repeated motion in both directions rather than a representative sample of activities.
Vocabulary
| Japanese | English |
|---|---|
| to draw a picture | |
| to run | |
| while studying abroad | |
| manga cafe | |
| boxed lunch | |
| organic | |
| loud voice | |
| park | |
| art museum | |
| to swim | |
| various | |
| to relax | |
| action, behavior | |
| for example | |
| to spend (time) | |
| change of pace | |
| hobby | |
| daily routine | |
| free time | |
| lessons one takes |