Is する omitted from ~たり~たりする because the main predicate is an adjective?


> **(A)** 今日は映画を見たり買い物をしたりで楽しかった
>

>> I had a good time seeing a movie and going shopping today.

* * *

From [wildnihongo.com](https://wildnihongo.com/grammar/tari-tari-suru/),

> When ~たり~たりする is not the final segment of a sentence and the main predicate
> is an adjective (i.e. not a verb), する may be omitted. If the main predicate
> is a verb, する can NOT be omitted.
>
>   * E.g. 歌ったり踊ったりとても楽しかった。[Doing things such as singing and dancing was
> really fun.] In this example, ~たり~たりする is not the main predicate and the
> main predicate is an adjective. Thus, する can be omitted.
>

As far as I'm concerned the main predicate of **A** is 楽しかった, which is an
adjective. Is the following correct then?

**(B)** 今日は映画を見たり買い物をしたり **した** で楽しかった

* * *

My books nor the book from which I got the example can't help me parse this as
they just state that する follows predicates in the たり form, not to mention this
not always the case.




Grammatically, something like 歌ったり踊ったり is a long **noun** phrase that can work
also as a suru-verb or a no-adjective.
[～ては～て](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/41664/5010) is very similar in
this regard, too. Since it's essentially a noun, you can say:

  * 歌ったり踊ったり **を** 3時間続けた。
  * 歌ったり踊ったり **が** 好きです。
  * 「今何してる？」「歌ったり踊ったり **です** 。」
  * ステージで歌ったり踊ったり **の** 経験があります。

In 歌ったり踊ったり **で** 楽しかった, this で after the second たり is a te-form of the copula
だ used to denote a reason/cause. It's the same で as in 幸せそうでよかった ("I'm glad
that you look happy") and 心配で電話しました ("I called him because I was worried").
You can rephrase the sentence as 歌ったり踊ったり **して** 楽しかった using the te-form of
する, too. They should look natural once you understand 歌ったり踊ったり is a noun.
However, 歌ったり踊ったり **したで** 楽しかった is incorrect simply because する/した and だ/で
cannot be joined directly (you cannot say するだ/しただ in any condition).

The next question is why even 歌ったり踊ったり楽しかった is correct if ～たり forms a noun. I
feel something like で or して is omitted before 楽しかった, as your textbook says.
This happens in speech, but it's not common in written Japanese. This happens
only with adjectives probably because [たり after the last verb may be
omitted](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/4793/5010). 歌ったり踊ったり楽しんだ would
be taken as "I did things like singing, dancing and having fun" rather than "I
had fun singing and dancing".




Grammatically, something like 歌ったり踊ったり is a long **noun** phrase that can work
also as a suru-verb or a no-adjective.
[～ては～て](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/41664/5010) is very similar in
this regard, too. Since it's essentially a noun, you can say:

  * 歌ったり踊ったり **を** 3時間続けた。
  * 歌ったり踊ったり **が** 好きです。
  * 「今何してる？」「歌ったり踊ったり **です** 。」
  * ステージで歌ったり踊ったり **の** 経験があります。

In 歌ったり踊ったり **で** 楽しかった, this で after the second たり is a te-form of the copula
だ used to denote a reason/cause. It's the same で as in 幸せそうでよかった ("I'm glad
that you look happy") and 心配で電話しました ("I called him because I was worried").
You can rephrase the sentence as 歌ったり踊ったり **して** 楽しかった using the te-form of
する, too. They should look natural once you understand 歌ったり踊ったり is a noun.
However, 歌ったり踊ったり **したで** 楽しかった is incorrect simply because する/した and だ/で
cannot be joined directly (you cannot say するだ/しただ in any condition).

The next question is why even 歌ったり踊ったり楽しかった is correct if ～たり forms a noun. I
feel something like で or して is omitted before 楽しかった, as your textbook says.
This happens in speech, but it's not common in written Japanese. This happens
only with adjectives probably because [たり after the last verb may be
omitted](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/4793/5010). 歌ったり踊ったり楽しんだ would
be taken as "I did things like singing, dancing and having fun" rather than "I
had fun singing and dancing".

