たり and て and し

Te-form and Conjunctive Form

 

1.The te-form allows you to combine two verbs or more and express sequence of actions or states. 　　　　　

タクシーに乗(の)って、駅(えき)まで行(い)った First Action         　　Second Action

[I] bought a fish and made Sushi.

 

2.　The te-form can also express parallel actions or states. If there are two topics or subjects　

 This function is also applicable for nouns and adjectives.

私(わたし)は日本語(にほんご)を勉強(べんきょう)して、妹(いもうと)は英語(えいご)を勉強(べんきょう)します 　　      Parallel Action　　　 Parallel Action	I will study Japanese and my younger sister will study English.
妹はかわいくて、頭がいいです	My younger sister is pretty and smart.
彼女は女優で歌手だ	She is an actress and a singer.

 

Conjunctive Form （連用形れんようけい）

In order to make your speech more formal, you can replace the te-form with a form called “Conjunctive Form” or “Continuative Form. Conjugation is fortunately very simple. This is applicable for only verbs and i-adjectives.

私(わたし)は日本語(にほんご)を勉強(べんきょう)し、妹(いもうと)は英語(えいご)を勉強(べんきょう)します                 　　Verb stem	I will study Japanese and my younger sister will study English.
タクシーに乗り(のり)、駅(えき)まで行った(いった)                  Verb stem	[I] went to the station by taking a taxi.
妹(いもうと)はかわいくて、頭(あたま)がいいです(drop て)	My younger sister is pretty and smart.

 

…たり…たりする: Parallel Markers for Verbs and Adjectives

Meaning:（do）such things as A and B

This is the counterpart to the parallel marker や which is for nouns. The function is to list multiple actions or states, but imply that there remains something unlisted.

 

How to use
Verb	Past Short form +り	にちようびは　べんきょうしたり　えいがをみたりしました	I studied and watched a movie etc.,on Sunday
Noun		やみのひは　すいようびだったり　にちようびだったり　です	Holidays are Wednesdays or Sundays ( or something else)
な-Adjective		このまちは　しずかだったり　きれいだったり	This town is quiet and beautiful and so forth.
い-Adj		にちようびは　いそがしかったり　ひまだったり	I'm busy or free on Sundays

                                       …し: Listing 2 more reasons                                                               

Meaning: and; and what’s more

疲(つか)れているし、眠(ねむ)いし　家(いえ)に帰(かえ)りたい Reason 1　　　reason 2  conclusion

[I] am tired, sleepy (and something else), so I want to go home.