Goal: Express concession.
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Day three in bed. My fever is lower but still there, and Nomin comes in waving two tickets for a concert tonight: her favourite band, in the open air.
I want to go. I tell Saraa that even with a fever I feel fine, that I will wear two jumpers, that I will come home early. She smiles the way doctors smile and says no.
In the end it is Nomin who decides, and her answer teaches me one more piece of grammar and a lot about friendship.
| Mongolian | English |
|---|---|
| концерт | concert |
| тасалбар | ticket |
| ч | even, also (after –сан: even though) |
| халуун буух | the fever goes down |
| сул | weak |
| хувцас | clothes |
| дулаан | warm |
| тэгэх | to do so (тэгсэн ч, even so) |
| эрүүл мэнд | health |
| чухал | important |
| хэдий ч | however, nevertheless |
| ганцаараа | alone |
| үнэхээр | really |
Put the little word ч ("even, also") after the past participle –сан, and the clause means "even though" or "even if":
ч is written as a separate word. The four forms of –сан follow harmony as always: буусан ч, орсон ч, ирсэн ч, өгсөн ч.
Look at this sentence: the concert has not happened yet, and still the form is –сан ч.
–сан ч does not place anything in the past here. It only says "in spite of this". As with every link between two clauses, the time of the whole sentence is given by the last verb:
тэгэх means "to do so, to be so". Тэгсэн ч at the start of a sentence answers what was just said: "even so, all the same".
Хэдий ч opens a sentence that goes against the previous one: "however, nevertheless".
In books and newspapers you will also meet –вч, which means the same as –сан ч. You will see it most often in боловч, "although, but", built on бол-:
| Form | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| –сан ч | even though, even if (everyday) | халуурсан ч |
| тэгсэн ч | even so | Тэгсэн ч явмаар байна. |
| хэдий ч | however, at the start | Хэдий ч би явахгүй. |
| боловч | although, but (more written) | буусан боловч |
Go deeper in the grammar guide: Mongolian particles · Mongolian converbs
The little word ч is everywhere in Mongolian, always written apart. After –сан it means "even though". After a pronoun or noun it means "too, also", often with бас: Би ч бас "me too". After одоо it means "even": одоо ч "even now, still". When you read, ask yourself which "even" or "also" the sentence needs.
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This written course teaches you to read and write. The LIMBA audio course makes you speak: 24 lessons of 12 to 15 minutes, recorded with a native speaker. You listen, you repeat, you answer — the perfect partner for these pages.
Download the Mongolian audio course24 audio lessons · MP3 · yours to keep