It's not so easy to explain this particular conjugation, but I'll give it a shot.
The -tari (tari suru) conjugation is used when you're giving a list of actions/verbs, instead of directly stating the verbs. Here's an example, using
taberu (to eat) and
asobu (to play).
私たちは食べたり、遊んだりしました。
Watashitachi wa tabetari, asondari shimashita. (FYI -tari is sometimes -dari depending which verb it follows).
Literal translation: We did things like eating and playing.
It sounds a little awkward in English, but thats the best translation I can give.
Generally the conjugation is used in the format "
verb-tari, verb-tari shimasu. "
Without the -tari conjugations, the sentence would be "We ate and played". However, using the -tari conjugation, it's like saying 'we did things
such as ________', or 'we did things
like _________'.
Hope that's not too confusing
It's hard to explain some concepts over the internet!