Goal: Make proposals in discussion.
Course progress: lesson 167 / 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 keepIdeas to protect nature
Temuulen's new teacher has given the class a project: every family must suggest three ideas for protecting nature, and the best ones will be tried out at school.
So after dinner we hold a real family meeting around the kitchen table. Bat takes notes like a chairman, Nomin argues, Saraa keeps the peace, and Temuulen insists that every single idea must be fun.
| Mongolian | English |
|---|---|
| байгаль хамгаалах | to protect nature |
| санал | proposal; opinion; vote |
| санал болгох | to propose, to suggest |
| санал нэгтэй | in agreement, unanimous |
| хуванцар | plastic |
| уут | bag (plastic or paper) |
| даавуун | made of cloth |
| ангилах | to sort, to classify |
| шил | glass |
| сав | container, bin |
| дэмжих | to support |
| тарих | to plant |
| хэмнэх | to save, to use sparingly (water, energy) |
| унадаг дугуй | bicycle |
The softest way to suggest something is a condition followed by ямар вэ?, "how would it be?". The verb takes the conditional –вал (or –бал after в and л: явбал).
To suggest *not* doing something, use –хгүй байвал, as Nomin does.
In a meeting, you can quote your proposal as a "let's" form (lesson 68) and close it with гэж санал болгож байна, "I propose, saying…":
The other pattern turns the action into an object: the –х participle with the accusative, then санал болгох.
| Verb | Let's… |
|---|---|
| явах | явъя |
| тарих | тарья |
| бичих | бичье |
| хэлэх | хэлье |
| болгох | болгоё |
| To agree | To disagree or hesitate |
|---|---|
| Сайн санаа байна. | Би энэ саналыг дэмжихгүй. |
| Дэмжиж байна. | Миний бодлоор энэ хэцүү. |
| Би зөвшөөрч байна. | Надад өөр санал байна. |
| Санал нэгтэй байна. | Дахиад бодъё. |
Тэгвэл… ("in that case, then…") is the natural way to build on someone else's idea, as Saraa does: Тэгвэл дулаан улиралд дугуйгаар явъя.
Go deeper in the grammar guide: The conditional · Imperatives and "let's" · Complex sentences
Tree planting is a national cause in Mongolia. In 2021 the country launched the "One Billion Trees" movement, Тэрбум мод, which aims to plant a billion trees by 2030 to fight desertification and dust storms. Schools, companies and families all take part, and on planting days you see whole classes with spades on the edge of Ulaanbaatar. In a Mongolian meeting, a proposal is often closed with Санал нэгтэй байна уу?, "are we all agreed?"
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 167 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