Stem of ます-form as conjuction

Question

おはよう！

I came up with the stem of the ます-form while trying to read a book. I already checked the questions Connecting phrases with the stem of masu-form and なく vs. なくて and stem form vs. てform as conjunctions. So, from those I learned that it is like て-form except that it doesn't imply temporal order.

Now, as far as I know (which is not much yet...), the 〜たり、〜たりする form does the same thing, which is similar to using や to list nouns and imply that there may be others, and does not imply temporal order.

Example:
(1) 今朝{けさ}起{お}きて、シャワーを浴{あ}びて、朝{あさ}ご飯{はん}を食{た}べました。
(2) 今朝{けさ}起{お}きたり、シャワーを浴{あ}びたり、朝{あさ}ご飯{はん}を食{た}べたりしました。
(3) 今朝{けさ}起{お}き、シャワーを浴{あ}び、朝{あさ}ご飯{はん}を食{た}べました。

Could someone please explain the difference between the 〜たり and the stem of the ます-form when used as conjuction?

Answer 1

たり is used to mean 'do things such as ...' e.g.

ケーキをたべたり、ビールを飲んだりします。

I do things like eat cake and drink beer.

It is a non-exhaustive list of things that the person does.

On the other hand the pre-masu/combining form of the verb is just a more formal version of the て form and is used more often in writing than in speech. It can usually be translated to mean 'and' when joining two clauses.