I Want to Do Things Like This and That

In this Topic, we're going to learn about two unrelated but similar looking pieces of grammar. We're going to learn about たい, which is attached to verbs to say that you 'want to' do them, and たり, which is attached to words to make a generalized list.

このトピックに出てくる文法

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たい
Want to do
たい is an auxiliary verb that is used to express things that you would like to do (want). To use たい, it needs to be added to the same conjugation base form of a verb that ます would be attached to.
When using たい, the thing that is 'wanted' can either be marked with を, or が. The difference in nuance is that something marked with が is considered to be wanted more. たい is conjugated in the same way as い-Adjectives, meaning that the negative, past, or past-negative forms may also be used.
たい is only used for expressing things that 'you' want, or repeating information/asking questions about what other people want. It may not be used to make guesses about what other people 'may' want, unless asking them directly.
Caution

たい is not used to tell other people that you want them to do something. This is done with ～てほしい.
Caution

たい is not usually used when giving invitations (asking someone if they want to do something with you). In these cases ～ませんか is far more natural.
N5 文法
たり～たりする
Things like ~ and ~
In Japanese, たり is a 'conjunction particle' that is used in exactly the same way as て. However, instead of having the nuance of 'then', or 'and', it has the nuance of 'and things like'. Basically, it is used for listing sequences of events that do not happen in a specific order.

The last たり in any sequence should be followed by a form of する (for example, した for past tense).
From these examples we can see that たり will sometimes be said as だり. This happens with the same verbs that usually use だ for past tense (like 読(よ)んだ), or で for the て form ( like 泳(およ)いで). This will not change the meaning at all, and is only to help make the words easier to say.

To summarize, the difference between て form, and たり is as follows.

Events in order - I did (A) て, (B) て, (C) て, (D) た.

Events in no specific order - I did (D) たり, (B) たり, (A) たり, (C) たりした.

たり is frequently used when there is only one verb in the sentence. This just means that the speaker did 'things like (A)', without specifically listing anything else.
Caution

In cases where a する verb is the last verb in a particular sequence, たり will often be omitted.
Fun Fact

Sometimes sentences will end with たりして, which is たり combined with the て form of する. たりして is used at the end of a sentence to express uncertainty, ambiguity, or that something that is unlikely may actually be true. It can also be used in a joking way.
N5 文法

詳細

In this details section, we're going to double-check the conjugation rules for using たり and たい, then discuss how the case-marking particles を and が are used with たい specifically.

I Want To Do Things Like Conjugating And...

For たい, we take the verb stem and add たい.

食べ

- ＋ …
- ＋たい「＋です」
- ＋ …
- ＋ …
- ＋ …

話

さ
- ＋ …
し
- ＋たい「＋です」
す
- ＋ …
せ
- ＋ …
そ
- ＋ …

For たり, we use the same conjugation as is used for た with all relevant word types.

食べ

- ＋ …
- ＋たり
- ＋ …
- ＋ …
- ＋ …

話

さ
- ＋ …
し
- ＋たり
す
- ＋ …
せ
- ＋ …
そ
- ＋ …

だ

だ
ろ
- ＋ …
だ
っ
- ＋たり
だ
- ＋ …
な
- ＋ …
な
ら
- ＋ …

広

く
- ＋ …
か
っ
- ＋たり
い
- ＋ …
け
れ
- ＋ …
か
ろ
- ＋ …

Note that for verbs ending in ぬ, ぐ, ぶ, or む sounds, たり will become だり, just the same as occurs when making the past form (た becoming だ). This is just a pronunciation change and has no effect on the meaning.

読

ま
- ＋ …
ん
- ＋だり
む
- ＋ …
め
- ＋ …
も
- ＋ …

を My が!

When using たい, from a strict grammatical standpoint, the thing which is 'wanted' should be marked by が. However, in practice it is common for を to also be used instead. Why is this? And what are the differences?

As たい acts in a similar way to an い-Adjective, the thing which is being described is expected to be the grammatical subject, marked by が. This is the same as any other adjective.

However, が has a strong focusing power. When a speaker chooses to use を instead, they are shifting the focus away from the specific thing that is being desired and towards the action itself.

In casual conversation, it is natural to drop particles entirely when the context is clear. This avoids the specific emphasis of either particle!

And, of course, in many cases it isn't even necessary to specify an object of desire.

In general, が will be the safe option with たい. At higher levels, we will discuss the uses of が versus を in more detail, being used with a variety of grammar patterns.