Goal: Say years, centuries, eras.
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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 keepA timeline of Mongolia
School starts on the first of September, and Temuulen's holiday homework is still waiting: a timeline of Mongolian history. He unrolls a long sheet of paper on the floor and hands me a pencil. "You're good at history now," he says.
So we kneel on the carpet and draw a line across the paper, from the Xiongnu to democracy. Temuulen writes the years in big figures, and I check them in Oyuunaa's book.
| Mongolian | English |
|---|---|
| он | year |
| зуун | century |
| эрин | era, age |
| МЭӨ | BC (манай эриний өмнөх, "before our era") |
| МЭ | AD (манай эриний, "of our era") |
| Хүннү | the Xiongnu, the first great empire of the steppe |
| тусгаар тогтнол | independence |
| зарлах | to declare, to announce |
| хувьсгал | revolution |
| ардчилал | democracy |
| ардчилсан | democratic |
| эхэн үе | the beginning (of a period) |
| дунд үе | the middle (of a period) |
| тэмдэглэх | to celebrate (a date); to note down |
A year is written in figures followed by он. When you read it, say the whole number; its last element stands before the noun он, so it takes the attributive form:
| Written | Read aloud |
|---|---|
| 1206 онд | мянга хоёр зуун зургаан онд |
| 1990 онд | мянга есөн зуун ерэн онд |
| 2026 онд | хоёр мянга хорин зургаан онд |
The ending on он says how the year is used in the sentence:
| Form | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1206 онд | in 1206 |
| 1206 оны | of 1206 |
| 1206 оноос | from 1206 |
| 1990 он хүртэл | until 1990 |
| 1921–1990 онд | from 1921 to 1990 |
Centuries are usually written in Roman numerals and read as ordinals: XIII зуун = арван гуравдугаар зуун, XX зуун = хорьдугаар зуун, XXI зуун = хорин нэгдүгээр зуун. "In" a century is XIII зуунд; "of" a century is XX зууны.
To place an event inside a century, add the genitive and a word for the part: зууны эхэн үед (at the beginning of the century), зууны дунд үед (in the middle of the century), зууны сүүлээр (at the end of the century).
1990-ээд он is "the 1990s", read мянга есөн зуун ерээд он. It is the same –аад that rounds a number off (гучаад, "about thirty"), placed on the tens: ер → ерээд, гуч → гучаад, so 1930-аад он is "the 1930s".
МЭӨ (манай эриний өмнөх) stands in front of a year BC: МЭӨ 209 он, 209 BC. МЭ (манай эриний) marks AD, and is used only when the context needs it.
A date goes from the largest unit to the smallest, each one in the genitive: 1921 оны долдугаар сарын 11, "11 July 1921".
Go deeper in the grammar guide: Numbers · Time expressions
A short timeline to remember: МЭӨ 209, the Xiongnu empire; 1206, the Great Mongol State; 1911, the declaration of independence (29 December is now celebrated as a national holiday); 1921, the People's Revolution, remembered at Naadam on 11-13 July; 1924, the People's Republic, and the capital takes the name Ulaanbaatar; 1990, the democratic revolution; 1992, the new Constitution.
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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