4Grammar and explanations
A past you did not see
You already know the everyday past in –сан and the narrative past in –в. –жээ is the past of things you did not witness yourself: you know them from someone else, from a book or a sign, or you discover the result now without having seen it happen.
| Form | What it tells | Example |
|---|
| –сан | I was there, or I simply state it | Бид Баянзагт очсон. (We went to Bayanzag.) |
| –жээ | I learned it, or I see the result now | Энд өндөг олжээ. (Eggs were found here, we are told.) |
Three places where you meet –жээ
- History, reports, signs and news. 1923 онд Америкийн экспедиц энд үлэг гүрвэлийн өндөг олжээ. "In 1923 an American expedition found dinosaur eggs here."
- Folk tales. Эрт урьд цагт нэгэн хаан байжээ. "Once upon a time there was a king." Almost every Mongolian tale begins like this, and нэгэн is the storyteller's form of нэг, "one, a".
- A discovery. You see the result of something you did not watch happen. Хадан цохио улаан болжээ! "The cliffs have turned red!" Өө, цас оржээ! "Oh, it has snowed!", when you look out of the window in the morning.
Эрт урьд цагт нэгэн хаан байжээ."Once upon a time there was a king."
Өө, цас оржээ!oh snow fall-PAST"Oh, it has snowed!"
–жээ or –чээ?
The suffix has no vowel harmony: it is always –жээ, even on back-vowel verbs: байжээ, болжээ, олжээ. It becomes –чээ on exactly the verbs whose converb ends in –ч (lesson 43): авах → авч → авчээ, гарах → гарч → гарчээ, сурах → сурч → сурчээ.
Тэр Говь руу явжээ.he Gobi towards go-PAST"He has gone to the Gobi (I hear)."
Тэд энд далан сая гаруй жилийн өмнө амьдарч байжээ."They lived here more than seventy million years ago."
Амьдарч байжээ shows that –жээ can also go on байх, after a converb: the reported version of амьдарч байсан (were living).
Using it yourself
For your own life, use –сан: you were there. Keep –жээ for what you pass on from others, for stories, and for small moments of surprise. A grandmother who has not seen a child for a year says Чи том болжээ! "You've grown!", and the –жээ carries her surprise.
Go deeper in the grammar guide: The four Mongolian pasts · The present forms and the –ж / –ч choice
