Difference between AとB and AやB

Question

Is it grammatically correct to say something like:

友達と遊ぶことや食べることが好きです。

Answer 1

To answer your question: Yes, it is grammatically correct.

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For your info / what you are not clear of:

友達と遊ぶことと食べることが好きです。
I love to eat and play with friends.
(And thats all, not sure if I love to do anything else with them. )

友達と遊ぶことや食べることが好きです。
I love to eat and play with friends.
(Well actually there are much more I love to do with my friends but play and eat will be two of them.)

So the difference of と and や will be：

• と： list things out and that's everything of it.

• や： list a part of all things out that belongs to the same group.

That is also why according for some Japanese と got the nuance of more "separating" and や feels more like things belongs to the same group.

Hope that helps.^^

Answer 2

I did a quick Google ブックス search for "ことや" and got results such as:

• なにかしらの心的態度を変えることや、しているなにかをやめることや、やり方を変えることや…

• 能天気にラッキーなことやツイてることや、いいことばかりとは限りません。いやなことや、辛いことや…

• 辞職にも通ずることやし…

Based on the results, I think it's safe to say that it's grammatically correct. However, there are more common ways to express strings of verbs like とか or 〜たり〜たりする.