4Grammar and explanations
A whole clause as the subject
English can make a whole clause the subject of a sentence: "What you said is right", "That it didn't rain is good". Mongolian does the same with the participle –сан followed by the particle нь:
Чиний хэлсэн нь зөв.you-GEN say-PART it right"What you said is right."
Бороо ороогүй нь сайн байна.rain fall-PAST-NEG it good be-PRES-FUT"It is good that it hasn't rained."
You met нь in lesson 86 as the particle that marks the topic. Here it closes the clause and turns it into "the fact that…" or "what…". The sentence then goes on to say something about it: it is good, right, amazing, surprising.
What surprised me
гайхшруулах means "to amaze, to surprise someone". The person surprised goes in the accusative, намайг (me), and the clause in –сан нь says what did the surprising:
Намайг хамгийн их гайхшруулсан нь сур харваа.me-ACC most much amaze-PART it archery"What amazed me most was the archery."
Ийм олон хүн ирсэн нь гайхалтай.such many person come-PART it amazing"It is amazing that so many people came."
Who did it?
As with every participle, a pronoun that does the action goes in the genitive: миний хэлсэн нь (what I said), түүний ирсэн нь (the fact that he came). A noun subject such as бороо or тэр өвгөн often simply stays in its plain form.
Миний хэлсэн нь зөв байсан.I-GEN say-PART it right be-PAST"What I said was right."
–х нь: doing something, in general
With –х instead of –сан, the clause names an activity in general, not one event:
Наадам үзэх нь бидний хувьд их баяр.Naadam watch-PART it we-GEN for great joy"Watching Naadam is a great joy for us."
Хүлээх нь уйтгартай.wait-PART it boring"Waiting is boring."
Монгол хэл сурах нь сонирхолтой.Mongolian language learn-PART it interesting"Learning Mongolian is interesting."
| Form | Meaning | Example |
|---|
| –сан нь | what happened, the fact that it happened | Чиний хэлсэн нь зөв. |
| –х нь | doing it, as an activity | Хүлээх нь уйтгартай. |
You will see much more of –х нь at level B2. For now, recognise it and use it with a short verdict: сайн, хэцүү, сонирхолтой, уйтгартай.
Go deeper in the grammar guide: Complex sentences and nominalised clauses · Mongolian particles
