Goal: Talk about distance, weight, size.
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Download the Mongolian audio course24 audio lessons · MP3 · yours to keepHow far is the next well?
Water decides everything in the Gobi. Our water can is half empty, and Bold says the next well is "not far". I am learning that in the Gobi "not far" can mean anything from five to fifty kilometres.
On the map Tuyaa measures with her fingers: twenty-three kilometres. The well, when we reach it, is twelve metres deep, and the herder's bucket holds ten litres. Nomin and I pull it up together. Ten litres of water weigh ten kilos, and they feel like twenty.
| Mongolian | English |
|---|---|
| худаг | well |
| хэр | how (much); хэр хол: how far |
| километр | kilometre |
| метр | metre |
| литр | litre |
| кило | kilo |
| гүн | deep; depth |
| хувин | bucket |
| багтах | to fit in; (of a container) to hold |
| газрын зураг | map |
| татах | to pull |
| хоёулаа | the two of us, both of us |
| дүүргэх | to fill |
| хийд | monastery |
Хэр means "how much, to what degree". Put it before an adjective and close the question with бэ or вэ: бэ after a word ending in в, л, м or н, вэ after everything else.
| Question | English |
|---|---|
| Хэр хол бэ? | How far is it? |
| Хэр гүн бэ? | How deep is it? |
| Хэр том бэ? | How big is it? |
| Хэр өндөр вэ? | How high is it? |
| Хэр урт вэ? | How long is it? |
| Хэр хүнд вэ? | How heavy is it? |
| Хэр удах вэ? | How long will it take? |
The number comes first in its attributive form (lesson 23), then the unit, which never takes a plural ending, then the adjective if you want it.
For weight, Mongolian says жинтэй, "having a weight of": жин is weight.
Put the starting point in the ablative and хүртэл (up to, as far as) after the end point.
| Mongolian | English |
|---|---|
| километр (км) | kilometre |
| метр (м) | metre |
| сантиметр (см) | centimetre |
| кило, килограмм (кг) | kilo, kilogram |
| литр (л) | litre |
Mongolia uses the metric system, with the international words. The genitive works as usual: арван литрийн хувин is "a ten-litre bucket".
Go deeper in the grammar guide: Mongolian numbers · Mongolian question particles · The ablative case
In the countryside, Mongolians often measure distance in time rather than in kilometres: хоёр цагийн зам, "two hours of road". And ойрхон ("quite near") can still mean an hour's drive. On the steppe and in the Gobi there are few landmarks, the air is clear, and everything is a little further away than it looks.
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Lesson done? Train your ear
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