Goal: Build complex subjects.
Course progress: lesson 154 / 200 · tip: use the ← and → keys to change lesson
Now hear it and say it
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 keepWhat matters in Mongolian culture
Oyuunaa has asked us to write about what matters most in Mongolian culture. At dinner I ask my host family, and soon everyone is talking at once.
Bat says respect for elders, Saraa says hospitality, Nomin says family. Temuulen says the most important thing is dessert. I write it all down, dessert included, and realise that every answer starts with a whole little sentence followed by нь.
| Mongolian | English |
|---|---|
| чухал | important |
| ахмад | elder, senior (in age) |
| хүндлэх | to respect |
| зочин | guest (plural зочид) |
| угтах | to welcome, to meet (someone arriving) |
| заавал | without fail, always |
| цуглах | to gather, to get together |
| таалагдах | to be liked, to please |
| тэвчээртэй | patient |
| заншил | custom |
| амттан | dessert, sweet dish |
| үнэн | true; truth |
English can make a verb the subject with -ing: "Respecting elders is important." Mongolian puts the verb of the clause in a participle, adds the particle нь, and then says something about it:
Everything in front of нь belongs to the clause, however long it is. The clause keeps its own grammar: here хүнийг is the object of хүндлэх and stays in the accusative. нь points back at the whole block, rather like "it" or "this" in English.
For an action in general, or one that is still to come, use the –х participle: сурах нь, байх нь, угтах нь.
For something that has happened, use –сан: ирсэн нь, хэлсэн нь, сурсан нь. If you name who did it, that person goes in the genitive, as in any participle phrase: чиний хэлсэн нь. The phrase can mean "what you said" or "the fact that you said it"; the context decides.
After нь comes what you say about the clause: an adjective, a noun, or a verb.
| Clause | Particle | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Ахмад хүнийг хүндлэх | нь | чухал. |
| Зочдыг дулаан угтах | нь | манай заншил. |
| Чиний монгол хэл сурсан | нь | бидэнд таалагдаж байна. |
A frame you will hear constantly: Хамгийн чухал нь X, "the most important thing is X". Here нь follows the adjective itself.
With the accusative instead of нь, the same kind of clause becomes an object, as you saw in lesson 146: Би түүний ирснийг мэдээгүй, "I didn't know that he had come".
Go deeper in the grammar guide: Complex sentences · Participles · Particles
Respect for elders shows in small gestures. In a ger the place of honour, the хоймор, is at the back, facing the door, and it goes to the eldest. Younger people greet older people first. You give and receive with the right hand, often with the left hand lightly supporting the right elbow.
Tea is offered to every guest. Refusing it outright is impolite: if you do not want it, accept the bowl and touch it to your lips.
Choose the right answer, then press Check my answers. Score 70% or more and the lesson is ticked on your course map.
Well done! Lesson 154 is ticked on your course map.
Write your answer on paper or in your head first, then reveal the model answer.
☰ See all 200 lessons · Back to top ↑
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